By Joe Johnson
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday charged 39-year-old Franklin County resident Matthew Otis Reidling with four counts of sexual exploitation of children for possessing child pornography and three counts of sexual exploitation of children for allegedly distributing child pornography.
The arrest resulted from an investigation by the GBI's Child Exploitation Exploitation and Computer Crimes (CEACC) Unit, after receiving Cybertips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding the possession and distribution of numerous images and videos depicting child pornography by Reidling via the internet, according to the GBI.
The investigation led to a search warrant being executed at Reidling’s home in Canon, and the suspect's subsequent arrest.
The CEACC Unit was assisted in the execution of the warrant by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, Canon Police Department, and the Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Office.
Reidling on Wednesday was in custody at the Franklin County Jail.
According to the GBI, the investigation is part of the ongoing effort by the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, which is housed within CEACC Unit, to identify those involved in the child pornography trade. 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 pornography, 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's Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit at 404-270-8870. 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.