Oconee County Man Arrested for Offenses Related to the Sexual Exploitation of Children

Watkinsville, GA (September 1, 2021) – On Monday, August 30, 2021, Ben Simms, age 19, was charged with one count of Criminal Attempt to Commit the Sexual Exploitation of Children and one count of Prohibition on Nude or Sexually Explicit Electronic Transmissions by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes (CEACC) Unit. The GBI CEACC Unit was requested by the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office to investigate the sexual exploitation of multiple adults and a juvenile, via the internet, who were believed to be from the Oconee County, Georgia area.  The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office received a report that several identified adults and at least one identified juvenile’s images had been posted to a pornography site for the purpose of harassing the individuals and/or the sexual exploitation/manipulation of said images by the subject and other like-minded individuals.  An investigation into this subject led to the arrest of Ben Simms in Kennesaw, Georgia.  During the arrest, multiple electronic devices belonging to Simms were seized pursuant to search warrants and are currently being processed for additional evidence. 

Simms was transported to the Oconee County Jail upon his arrest.

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. Tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS(8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.