Hixson man arrested during “Operation Child-Proof”
CHATTOOGA COUNTY, Ga. (WDEF) — A Hixson, Tennessee man is one of four people behind bars as result of a Georgia operation targeting child predators.
Investigators arrested 30-year-old William Alexander White of Hixson. They charged him with the following:
- Obscene internet contact with a child,
- Electronically furnishing obscene material to minors,
- Sexual exploitation of a child,
- Use of a computer to lure, seduce, solicit, entice a child for illegal acts.
William White (Chattooga County Sheriff)
The Chattooga County Sheriff’s Office, Floyd County Police Department, Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force all helped coordinate this undercover investigation.
The operation lasted three days, beginning October 11, 2023.
Authorities arrested four people for these crimes. They additionally say more arrests may come in the future.
The Chattooga County Sheriff’s Office explained that in “Operation Child-Proof,” authorities arrested people between the ages of 30 and 67. All of those arrested traveled around Chattooga County, believing they were going to meet a child for sexual acts.
The sheriff’s office said the goal of this operation was to arrest those who communicate with children online and then travel to meet them for sexual reasons. “Online child predators visit chat rooms and websites on the internet, find children, begin conversations with them introduce sexual content and arrange a meeting with children for the purpose of committing sexual acts with children under the age of 16,” the Chattooga County Sheriff’s Office explained.
Investigators also arrested three other individuals: 41-year-old Bobby Leon Brock of Silver Creek, 41-year-old Micah Van Donaldson of Rome, and 67-year-old Hugh Bradley Taff of Rockmart.
Authorities said they had more than 15 exchanges with people on various internet platforms, in which the suspects initiated contact with who they believed to be a minor. Those suspects then directed the conversation toward sex, investigators said.
The sheriff’s office said many of those exchanges involved dating and socializing apps or websites.
These agencies also helped in “Operation Child-Proof:”
- Murray County Sheriff’s Office
- Trion Police Department
- Summerville Police Department
- Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit Drug Task Force
- Hall County Sheriff’s Office
- GBI- Georgia Information Sharing and Analysis Center
- United States Secret Service
- Georgia State Patrol Post 38 Rome
- Georgia Department of Community Supervision
