Two White County Men Charged with Sexual Exploitation of Children

Two White County men have been charged with the sexual exploitation of children.

According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Human Exploitation and Trafficking Unit, the arrests came last Thursday after an intensive multi-agency investigation.

The investigations began after the GBI received independent and unrelated cyber tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children involving the possession and/or distribution of explicit child sexual abuse material by persons in White County.

Two residential search warrants related to separate investigations pertaining to the Sexual Exploitation of Children were issued and as a result, two men were arrested.

They are identified as 57-year old Richard Benton of Sautee Nacoochee. Benton is charged with four counts of Sexual Exploitation of Children (Possession of Child Pornography).

And 18-year old Lazarus Smith, Jr., also of Sautee Nacoochee. He is charged with three counts of Sexual Exploitation of Children.

Benton and Smith, Jr. were transported to the White County Jail. Booking photos can be obtained from the White County Jail.

The GBI had the assistance of the White County Sheriff’s Office, the GBI Cleveland field office, the GBI Human Exploitation and Trafficking (HEAT) unit, the GBI Georgia Information Sharing and Analysis Center, and the GBI’s Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Office.

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 child pornography trade.

Anyone with information about these cases, or other cases of child exploitation, is asked to contact the Georgia Bureau of Investigation 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.