Two Muscogee County Men Arrested for the Sexual Exploitation of Children

Columbus, GA (December 10, 2022) – Two Muscogee County men were arrested this week in unrelated investigations. Camron Joyner, age 21, was arrested and charged with five counts of sexual exploitation of children and Leo Lapalm, age 71, was arrested and charged with ten counts of sexual exploitation of children by the GBI Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes (CEACC) Unit. The GBI CEACC Unit began an investigation into both men’s online activity after receiving multiple cybertip reports from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) regarding the possible online possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). These separate investigations led to consent searches of their electronic devices where numerous other files of CSAM were further located. Joyner and Lapalm were taken to the Muscogee County Jail upon their arrest on December 7.

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 and Computer Crimes 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.