GBI Arrests Milledgeville Man in Sexual Exploitation of Children Investigation

Milledgeville, Baldwin County, GA (April 24, 2026) - The GBI has arrested and charged Zakarie Ralston, age 21, of Milledgeville, Baldwin County, GA, with one count of Sexual Exploitation of Children.

In January of 2026, the GBI’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes (CEACC) Unit began an investigation into Ralston’s online activity after receiving a Cyber Tipline Report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) regarding the possession of child sexual abuse material. This investigation led to Ralston’s arrest and a search warrant, which was executed at his home in Baldwin County.

Ralston was booked into the Baldwin County Jail.

The Milledgeville Police Department, the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office, and the GBI Cyber Crime Center assisted with this investigation.

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 GBI CEACC Unit at 404-270-8870 or submit a tip 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.