1 arrested, 1 sentenced in Columbia County child porn cases
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - One man has been arrested and another has been sentenced in separate child pornography cases out of Columbia County.
Eric Longacre, 40, of Grovetown was arrested and charged after authorities executed a search warrant on a Grovetown home.
Former Army recruiter Joshua Paul Barnhill, 41, of Martinez, was sentenced to 151 months in federal prison after previously pleading guilty to distribution of child pornography.
Here are the details on their cases:
Eric Longacre
A Grovetown man has been arrested on charges of possession child pornography.
On Aug. 14, the Grovetown Police Department Criminal Investigation Division executed a search warrant at a home in the 4000 block of Rosedale Place regarding a child pornography investigation.
Grovetown investigators assigned to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Internet Crimes Against Children task force had received information that Eric Longacre, 40, was involved in the possession of child pornography, according to authorities.
Longacre was taken into custody at the residence and several electronic devices were seized.
The investigation has revealed that Longacre was in possession of multiple videos and files containing child pornography, according to Grovetown police.
Longacre was charged with three counts of possession of child pornography and committed to the Columbia County Detention Center. The investigation is ongoing and additional charges are forthcoming.
He wasn’t still in the jail as of Thursday.
Joshua Barnhill
A Columbia County man who serves in the U.S. Army has been sentenced to more than a decade in federal prison after uploading sexually explicit images of children to the internet.
Joshua Paul Barnhill, 41, of Martinez, was sentenced to 151 months in prison after previously pleading guilty to distribution of child pornography, according to federal prosecutors.
He was arrested almost a year ago and suspended from Army duties at that time.
U.S. District Judge Dudley H. Bowen also ordered Barnhill to pay restitution of $21,000, to register as a sex offender, and to serve 15 years of supervised release upon completion of his prison term.
As described in court documents and testimony, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children sent a CyberTip to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to alert investigators about sexually explicit images and videos of children shared by the KIK internet messaging app.
Agents learned the images originated from Barnhill’s location, and found hundreds of images and videos on devices Barnhill used to upload images to the KIK and Wickr applications.
Barnhill is a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army, serving as a recruiter operating from Fort Jackson, S.C.
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