GBI Arrests White County Man in Sexual Exploitation of Children Investigation

Cleveland, GA (September 9, 2024) - On Sunday, September 8, 2024, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes (CEACC) Unit arrested and charged Christopher Tench, age 32, of White County, GA, with four counts of Child Molestation and six counts of Sexual Exploitation of Children in White County, Georgia.

The GBI CEACC Unit began an investigation into Tench's online activity after receiving a request from the Dawson County Sheriff's Office regarding the possible online possession and production of child sexual abuse material. This investigation led to a search warrant at Tench's home in White County and his subsequent arrest. The Dawson County Sheriff's Office, the White County Sheriff's Office, and the GBI Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Office assisted the GBI CEACC unit in the execution of this search warrant.

Tench was booked into the White 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 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.