November 06, 2023
Liberty County Man Arrested for the Sexual Exploitation of Children
Hinesville, GA (November 6, 2023) – On Monday, October 23, 2023, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes (CEACC) Unit arrested and charged Winford Griffin, age 37, of Liberty County, Georgia, with ten counts of sexual exploitation of children.
The GBI CEACC Unit began an investigation into Griffin’s online activity as part of Operation Sneaky Peach, a statewide, multi-jurisdictional operation consisting of both proactive and reactive investigations targeting users who were involved in the possession of and trading of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), commonly known as child pornography. This investigation led to a search warrant of Griffin’s home while he was living in Thomaston, Upson County, Georgia. Griffin later relocated to Hinesville, Liberty County, while the investigation was still ongoing. At the time of his arrest, Griffin was residing in Liberty County.
The GBI CEACC unit was aided in the execution of the previous search warrant and the arrest warrants by the Upson County Sheriff’s Office, the Thomaston Police Department, and the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office.
Griffin was initially taken to the Liberty County Jail until he could be taken back to the Upson 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 or report via the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children CyberTipline at CyberTipline.org.
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.