McDuffie County Man Arrested for Sexual Exploitation of Children

Thomson, GA (December 20, 2024) – On Wednesday, December 18, 2024, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes (CEACC) Unit arrested and charged Harold Ryan, age 42, of McDuffie County, Georgia, with four counts of Sexual Exploitation of Children.

An investigation into Ryan’s illicit online activity began in September 2024 after receiving numerous CyberTips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children involving possession of child sexual abuse material. The investigation led to a search warrant at Ryan’s home and his subsequent arrest. The Thomson Police Department aided the GBI CEACC unit in the execution of this search warrant.

Ryan was booked into the McDuffie 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 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.