Muscogee County Man Arrested for the Sexual Exploitation of Children

Columbus, GA (August 25, 2020) – On Friday, August 21, 2020, Artis Haygood, 33, of Muscogee County, was charged with three counts of Sexual Exploitation of Children (Possession of Child Pornography) by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Columbus regional field office and the GBI Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit (CEACC). An investigation into Haygood by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) began after information was received from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) regarding the possible upload and possession of child pornography by Haygood to a popular online platform. This investigation led to a search warrant of Haygood’s home and his subsequent arrest. The GBI was assisted in the search of Haygood’s home by the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office.

Haygood was booked in to the Muscogee County Jail.

This investigation is part of the ongoing effort by the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, housed within the GBI’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit, to identify those involved in the child pornography trade. The ICAC Program, created by the U. S. Department of Justice, was developed in response to the increasing number of children and teenagers using the Internet, the proliferation of child pornography, and the heightened online activity by predators searching for unsupervised contact with underage victims.

Anyone with information about other cases of child exploitation is asked to contact the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit at 404-270-8870.