Cherokee County Man Charged with Sexual Exploitation of Children

Woodstock, GA (July 27, 2022) – On Tuesday, July 26, 2022, Paul Douglas Johnson, age 72, of Cherokee County, Georgia, was arrested on 9 counts of Sexual Exploitation of Children by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes (CEACC) Unit. The GBI CEACC Unit and Homeland Security Investigations in Atlanta, began a joint investigation into Johnson’s online activity after receiving a tip from a social media website regarding the possible online sexual exploitation of children.  This investigation led to a search warrant of Johnson’s home and his subsequent criminal charges. The GBI CEACC unit was aided in this investigation by Homeland Security Investigations, the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, and the GBI Special Enforcement Team. 

Johnson is currently in custody at the Cherokee 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 trade of child sexual abuse material. 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 sexual abuse material, 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 Unit at 404-270-8870. Anonymous 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.