Child Rescued from Georgia Youth Pastor Caught in Child Porn Sting
Police rescued a minor from the home of a youth minister who was one of seven people arrested in a Floyd County, Georgia, child pornography sting.
Floyd County police said Austin Wray Perkins, 25, was sexually exploiting the child, including coaching the child on how to act in explicit videos, the Rome News-Tribune reported. The child was under Perkins’ care because the child had no family caregiver, police said.
Police did not identify the church where Perkins was employed, but Floyd County police Sgt. Chris Fincher said his department would reach out to the church to try to determine if there were any other victims.
Perkins is being held without bond at the Floyd County Jail on charges of felony aggravated child molestation and sexual exploitation of children.
Six other people, including a 16-year-old, were also arrested in the sting and charged with crimes including sexual exploitation of children, sending sexually explicit images of minors over social media, felony computer pornography, and misdemeanor drug-related object possession.
Fincher said his department confiscated 10 terabytes of evidence, including graphic images and videos involving children between the ages of 2 and 12. He said some of the content had been created locally then shared through social media apps and chat groups. He said Fincher said the evidence could potentially hold millions of files.
The Floyd County Police Department was assisted in the sting by Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Secret Service Cyber Crime Task Force, and investigators from the Cobb County Police Department.
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