GBI Arrests Lithonia Man in Sexual Exploitation of Children Investigation

Lithonia, Dekalb County, GA (December 18, 2024) - On December 11, 2024, the GBI arrested and charged Ronald Melton, age 43, of Lithonia, Dekalb County, Georgia, with Sexual Exploitation of Children.

The GBI CEACC Unit began an investigation into Melton's online activity on February 20, 2024, after receiving a Cyber Tipline Report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) regarding the possible online possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material. This investigation led to a search warrant for Melton's home and his subsequent arrest. The Dekalb County Police Department assisted with the search warrant and arrest.

Melton was booked into the Dekalb 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.