Two Men Arrested for Obscene Internet Contact with a Minor in Georgia

Reports out of Floyd County show that two adult men traveled there expecting to have sexual relations with children.

Authorities arrested the two men during a sting. Both men believed they had been chatting online with minors under the age of sixteen years old. However, when they arrived to meet the minors - authorities met them instead. Both have been accused of engaging in sexual conversation with a person they believed to be under the age of sixteen. They have been arrested on charges of obscene internet contact with a child.

In today's post and as a Georgia Sex Crimes Lawyer, I will outline and explain the law behind the offense of obscene internet contact with a minor.

Obscene Internet Contact with a Minor in Georgia

Obscene Internet Contact with a Minor in Georgia is defined in O.C.G.A. § 16-12-100.2(e)(1) as:

 A person commits the offense of obscene Internet contact with a child if he or she has contact with someone he or she knows to be a child or with someone he or she believes to be a child via a computer online service or Internet service, including but not limited to a local bulletin board service, Internet chat room, e-mail, or on-line messaging service, and the contact involves any matter containing explicit verbal descriptions or narrative accounts of sexually explicit nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sadomasochistic abuse that is intended to arouse or satisfy the sexual desire of either the child or the person, provided that no conviction shall be had for a violation of this subsection on the unsupported testimony of a child.

Obscene internet contact involves contacting a minor through email, chat rooms, or other forms of online social networking with the purpose of enticing the minor to commit sexual acts.

It is important to note that no physical act has to happen for a crime to have occurred. A person could be convicted just for for their words to a child. A person who violates this statute will be guilty of a felony and will be punished by a prison term between one and ten years and a fine of no more than $10,000.

However, if the victim was 14 or 15 years old and the defendant was no more than three years older than the victim, then the accused will be guilty of a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature.

Practice Note

Georgia Privacy Crimes and Georgia Sex Crimes are closely related. If you or a loved one has been arrested in the state of Georgia, call our offices now.