TIFTON — Tift County Sheriff Gene Scarbrough reported that deputies responded 3,195 calls for service, conducted 1,376 business and property checks along with 583 mobile home park and subdivision checks along with 32 school checks in the month of September, according to a press release.

Scarbrough said deputies served 81 warrants, 66 civil papers and 170 subpoenas.

The sheriff reported that deputies arrested 78 people, some on multiple charges. He said that 27 charges of parole/probation violation were filed, eight drug charges, one crime against a person charge, 16 property crimes charges, eight failures to appear, one child support violation, one case of fraud, one weapon violation, five cases of obstruction of deputies with 52 cases being assigned to the Criminal Investigative Division.

Traffic stops conducted by deputies led to 32 individuals having a suspended or revoked driver’s license as well as the arrest of one wanted person and four drivers being charged with DUI.

Scarborough added that deputies completed 533 reports, worked 37 accidents, patrolled 57,474 miles, verified the home addresses of 70 registered sex offenders and issued 1,366 citations with 172 warnings.

The sheriff also reported that deputies provided 72 transports, totaling 206 hours and 8,096 miles.

Jeannette Farmer Eady, 74, passed away Tuesday, May 19, 2020. Graveside services will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday, May 21, at Nunn-Wheeler Cemetery with the Rev. Freddie Hogg officiating. Mrs. Eady was born in Milledgeville and was a graduate of Baldwin County High School. She worked for Dr. …

Grady Ray Townsend (Pop) of Oxford, passed away Friday, May 15, 2020, at the age of 89. A Marine, Mr. Townsend valiantly served his country in the United States Marine Corps during the Korean War and was a faithful member of Heritage Hills Baptist Church. He was a hardworking, selfless man w…

Benjie Dewayne Fountain, 58, passed away Thursday, May 15, 2020. Private services will be held at West View Cemetery. Benjie was a life-long resident of Baldwin County. He was a retired electrician. He was preceded in death by his father, James E. Fountain; and two brothers, Eddie Fountain a…

A private burial service for Mrs. Lois Gilbert of Sparta, Ga., will be held for family. Her memories shall forever remain in the heart of her children, Johnnie Gilbert, Jennie Rous, Brenda Gilbert, Polly Wheeler, Eddie Gilbert, Bobby Gilbert, Deborah Gilbert, Timmy Gilbert, Trudy Butt and Ro…

Funeal services for Mrs. Evelyn R. Abram of Sparta, Ga., will be held privately with family. Her memories will be cherished by her children, Timothy Duggans, Charles Duggans, Kathy Harper, Lucious Abrams, Reva Williams and Vanessa Cheathem. Services entrusted to Dawson’s Mortuary, 98 Hopgood…

After listening to both Rome police and a representative from RedSpeed USA, Rome City Schools decided to hold off on voting to approve the installation of speed cameras in front of Rome High School until they can discuss it further.

Greg Park with RedSpeed USA, along with Rome Police Department Chief Denise Downer-McKinney and Capt. Chris DeHart, had a 30-minute question and answer session with school board officials during Tuesday night’s caucus at the city schools’ central office.

Board members aired their concerns and asked questions about when the cameras will be operational, how the tickets will be enforced and why Rome High School was chosen.

“I have had more people ask me about this than anything I’ve had since I’ve been on the school board,” Will Byington, city school board member, said.

DeHart told the school board these cameras were necessary for the stretch of highway in front of Rome Middle and High due to the number of wrecks recorded since January. The 2-mile stretch of road between the Ga. 53 intersection and Riverside Parkway has seen over 100 wrecks with one of them resulting in a fatality, DeHart said. Rome High School sits in the middle of the corridor and with the cameras law enforcement should see a decrease in those numbers, he said.

Board Member Elaina Beeman questioned the nine-hour study conducted by law enforcement and RedSpeed USA, which documented 274 motorists traveling at least 11 mph over the speed limit of 45 mph. Beeman said she and others she has talked to feel like this study is targeting the students and families of the schools.

DeHart replied while some students may get ticketed, the main focus is to get people to slow down. If the schools can’t get the kids to slow down and neither can the parents, then it is up to the police, he said. Also, DeHart pointed out, city police only have six officers covering school zones with seven schools needing the coverage.

“Speeding in front of a school is dangerous,” he said. “People don’t like being told that they cannot do something.”

Tickets will only be issued during school hours, Park said, beginning an hour before school begins and ending an hour after it ends. The high-tech cameras will run 24/7 and can notify police of drivers who are wanted by police, potentially violating restraining orders by being too close to the school or if they are a registered sex offender.

Police would be able to live-stream the cameras or play them back at any point necessary.

If a speeding violation is registered, it will be sent to RedSpeed USA who will review it twice and then send the video footage and license plate photo to the police. The police will then decide whether or not a ticket should be issued.

Park said in response to a question from Jill Fisher, vice chair of the board, that once a ticket is sent, drivers will also have access to the video and photo evidence against them. They will have the option to pay a $75 fine or have their violation tried like a normal ticket.

“Which you have every right to do,” Park said. “Only about 3% take that option though.”

DeHart said the fine is much less of a penalty than if an RPD officer pulled a speeder over in a school zone. Officers can write tickets for 1 mph over the limit he said, and the tickets written by an officer put points on licenses, which usually results in raised car insurance costs.

This program puts no points on a driver’s license nor affects insurance costs and will only ticket speeders for going 11 mph over, Park said.

“So, is this a cash cow or a speed trap,” board member Alvin Jackson asked.

“Neither,” DeHart replied.

RedSpeed receives the money from the citations and takes 35% for their services and sends the remaining 65% to law enforcement for public safety purposes only. The cameras have been approved by the Georgia General Assembly and are being used in other counties as well, Park said.

If approved by the Rome City School Board, a permit from the Georgia Department of Transportation would need to be granted. State law requires RedSpeed USA to post warning signs for 30 days before tickets can be written. However violators will still get warnings by mail.

DeHart said if this program is successful and a reduction in speeders is seen, the department will consider moving the cameras to in front of Main Elementary, which was not in operation when the study was done.

City school board members decided to wait until the next board meeting before they vote on allowing or denying the cameras.

Beeman said she wants to see the study before she makes a decision.

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. (CBS46) — A Gwinnett County superior court judge has been indicted along with three others, including a registered sex offender, accused of computer trespassing.

Kathryn Schrader was booked into the Gwinnett County Jail on Wednesday and was released on bond later that day.

According to investigators, the judge believed Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter was monitoring her emails, so she hired private investigators T.J. Ward and Frank Karic. Ward gained national fame when he investigated the 2005 disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalie Holloway who went missing while on a high school graduation trip in Aruba.

Authorities say Ward hired the co-founder of DragonCon, Ed Kramer, to do the actual hacking of Gwinnett’s computer system to see if someone was spying on the judge. Kramer was placed on Georgia’s sex offender registry after a 2013 plea bargain involving the alleged molestation of three boys.

Investigators found about the hacking when they got a warrant to search Kramer’s computer following his February arrest for allegedly taking pictures of a seven-year-old boy in a Lawerenceville doctor’s office.

Porter, the district attorney, has recused himself from the case. He denies hacking into Judge Schrader’s computer.

Schrader has been removed from overseeing criminal cases, but she is still handling civil cases.

On September 18, Schrader, Ward, Kramer and Karic were indicted for computer trespass.

So get this: A judge, a well-known private investigator, and the co-founder of #DragonCon (who’s a registered sex offender) have all been indicted. They’re accused of hacking into Gwinnett County’s computer system. Join us now for details on @cbs46. https://t.co/34Om9rcWpO

— Rebekka Schramm (@SchrammCBS46) September 19, 2019

Copyright 2019 WGCL-TV (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.

Copyright 2019 WGCL-TV (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.

• Click here to download the CBS 46 News App

Richard Edward Hazelwood, 49, of Roswell and Austin Wayne Rhodes, 22, and Mahesh Kumar Saroj, 35, of Alpharetta were among the 24 arrested in an undercover Forsyth County child sex sting, Forsyth police say.

“Operation Just Cause” was a four-day proactive effort centered in Cumming, Forsyth County. The suspects, ranging in age from 19 to 65, traveled from areas around North Georgia, and other states, with the intent to meet a child for sex.

Hazelwood was charged with distribution of child pornography. Rhodes is being charged with illegal solicitation, entice or seduction and electronically furnishing obscene material. Kumar is being charged with child molestation, trafficking and illegal solicitation, entice or seduction.

Two people that was arrested were registered sex offenders. Twenty-nine year-old Michael Keith Coker is already a sex offender and allegedly smuggled an illegally possessed phone smuggled inside the Augusta State Prison.

Roger Kyle Nicholson, 44, of Gainesville was arrested for allegedly possessing suspected methamphetamine.

Thirty-one mobile phones were seized as evidence during the operation.

The goal of “Operation Just Cause” was to arrest persons who communicate with children on-line and then travel to meet them for the purpose of having sex. Additionally, the operation targeted those that are willing to exploit children by purchasing sex with a minor.

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 the children for the purpose of having sex.

During the multi-day operation, investigators had numerous exchanges with subjects on various social media or internet platforms. Many of those were exchanges in which the subject initiated contact with whom they believed to be a minor and directed the conversation towards sex. In some of those cases, the subject introduced obscene or lewd content, often exposing the minor (undercover) to pornography or requesting the child take nude or pornographic images for them.

Although some websites promote themselves as being for “adults-only” it is not uncommon for law enforcement to work cases in which children access these sites, establish profiles claiming to be older, and then find themselves vulnerable to victimization, harassment, blackmail, or assault.

Several subjects were identified as communicating simultaneously with multiple investigators posing as minors.

The following persons were arrested and charged in Forsyth County as part of “Operation Just Cause”:

♦ Robert Harley Martin, W/M, Dahlonega, GA, 38 years of age, truck driver

♦ Erik Delgado, W/M, Gainesville, GA, 26 years of age, sales associate

♦ Alan Thomas Bryant, W/M, Murrayville, GA, 40 years of age, unemployed

♦ Kyle Alexander Williams, B/M, Stone Mountain, GA, 32 years of age, landscaper

♦ Roger Kyle Nicholson; W/M, Gainesville, GA, 44 years of age, unemployed

♦ Jacob Perry Yeamans, W/M, Madison, Wisconsin, 61 years of age

♦ Rene Mauricio Posada; W/M; Marietta, GA, 29 years of age, sales manager

♦ Jackson Cain Butler, W/M, Calhoun, GA, 20 years of age, sales

♦ John Andrew Odell, W/M, Cumming, GA, 40 years of age, truck driver

♦ Michael Keith Coker, W/M; Augusta State Prison, 29 years of age, unemployed

♦ Richard Edward Hazelwood, B/M, Roswell, GA 49 years of age, drug representative

♦ Johnathon Dale Butler, W/M, Palmall, TN, 25 years of age, unemployed

♦ Mackenzi Faye Stinson, W/F, Palmall, TN, 19 years of age, sales associate

♦ Mahesh Kumar Saroj, W/M, Alpharetta, GA, 35 years of age, Information Technology

♦ Christopher Scott Taylor, W/M, Cumming, GA, 29 years of age, construction

♦ Joseph Ryan Lisnock, W/M, Gainesville, GA, 22 years of age, Landscaper

♦ Dylan Blair Nessmith, W/M, Johns Creek, GA, 23 years of age, mechanic

♦ Austin Wayne Rhodes, W/M, Alpharetta, GA, 22 years of age, Mechanic

♦ Daniel Dennis Rogan W/M, Witchita, KS, 47 years of age, Vehicle Transporter

♦ Jason Lee McIntyre, W/M, Gainesville, GA, 35 years of age, Supervisor

♦ Gavin Austen Peppers, W/M, Bowman, GA, 21 years of age, hotel clerk

♦ Jimmy Webster Roy, W/M, Gainesville, GA, 21 years of age, mover

♦ Anthony Christian Ceja, W/M, Lawrenceville, GA, 23 years of age, laborer

♦ Steven Charles Vinnenberg W/M, Cumming, Ga. 65 years of age

FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — The 24 suspects range in age from 19 to 65. They hailed from as far away as Wisconsin. They were IT professionals, landscapers, and drug representatives. And they were all arrested during an undercover operation in metro Atlanta. 

The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office along with 13 law enforcement agencies finished an undercover operation dubbed “Operation Just Cause.”

The sting was a four-day proactive effort centered in Cumming. The operation took several months of planning and was aimed at child predators and other suspects targeting children for human trafficking and other criminal acts in the state of Georgia.

Over the course of the operation, 24 of those cases were concluded with arrests, authorities said. Among those arrested were already-registered sex offenders and suspects with prior arrests for similar charges.

Investigators had numerous exchanges with subjects on various social media or internet platforms, police said. Many of those were exchanges in which the subject initiated contact with someone they believed to be a minor and directed the conversation towards sex, the investigators said. 

They added that, in some cases, the subject introduced obscene or lewd content, often exposing the minor (undercover) to pornography or requesting the child take nude or pornographic images for them.

“If you want to prey on Forsyth County’s children, you picked the wrong county,” Sheriff Ron Freeman said. “And, indeed, I will tell you, you picked the wrong state if you think you are going to prey on Georgia’s children.”

Among those caught in this operation were a suspect who pleaded guilty to statutory rape the week prior and a man currently serving time in the state prison system who made contact with the undercover officer on a smuggled cell phone. Investigators even said a 25-year-old man and 19-year-old traveled from Tennessee to have sex with an underage child – and came with their 2-year-old baby were also arrested. 

Authorities took the opportunity on Thursday to warn parents about the dangers posed online and the dangers that lurk out there. 

Multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Attorney General’s Office, Homeland Security, and several local law enforcement agencies took park in the operation. 

More than 40 officers participated in the operation. 

Arrests in Operation Just Cause

Robert Harley Martin, W/M, Dahlonega, GA, 38 years of age, truck driver

Erik Delgado, W/M, Gainesville, GA, 26 years of age, sales associate

Alan Thomas Bryant, W/M, Murrayville, GA, 40 years of age, unemployed

Kyle Alexander Williams, B/M, Stone Mountain, GA, 32 years of age, landscaper

Roger Kyle Nicholson, W/M, Gainesville, GA, 44 years of age, unemployed

Jacob Perry Yeamans, W/M, Madison, Wisconsin, 61 years of age

Rene Mauricio Posada, W/M; Marietta, GA, 29 years of age, sales manager

Jackson Cain Butler, W/M, Calhoun, GA, 20 years of age, sales

John Andrew Odell, W/M, Cumming, GA, 40 years of age, truck driver

Michael Keith Coker, W/M; Augusta State Prison, 29 years of age, unemployed

Richard Edward Hazelwood, B/M, Roswell, GA 49 years of age, drug representative

Johnathon Dale Butler, W/M, Palmall, TN, 25 years of age, unemployed

Mackenzi Faye Stinson, W/F, Palmall, TN, 19 years of age, sales associate

Mahesh Kumar Saroj, W/M, Alpharetta, GA, 35 years of age, Information Technology

Christopher Scott Taylor, W/M, Cumming, GA, 29 years of age, construction

Joseph Ryan Lisnock, W/M, Gainesville, GA, 22 years of age, Landscaper

Dylan Blair Nessmith, W/M, Johns Creek, GA, 23 years of age, mechanic

Austin Wayne Rhodes, W/M, Alpharetta, GA, 22 years of age, Mechanic

Daniel Dennis Rogan, W/M, Witchita, KS, 47 years of age, Vehicle Transporter

Jason Lee McIntyre, W/M, Gainesville, GA, 35 years of age, Supervisor

Gavin Austen Peppers, W/M, Bowman, GA, 21 years of age, hotel clerk

Jimmy Webster Roy, W/M, Gainesville, GA, 21 years of age, mover

Anthony Christian Ceja, W/M, Lawrenceville, GA, 23 years of age, laborer

Steven Charles Vinnenberg, W/M, Cumming, Ga. 65 years of age

MORE HEADLINES:

CAIRO — Authorities executed a search warrant last week that resulted in the arrest of two drug suspects.

Calvin Thomas of Cairo and Freddie Solomon of Pelham were both taken into custody Thursday evening.

A joint force consisting of the Grady County Sheriff’s Office Drug Unit, deputies on patrol, the Cairo Police Department and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation executed the search warrant on the 800 block of East Boulevard NE at around 9:13 p.m.

A search of the residence yielded an unspecified quantity of methamphetamine and marijuana, scales and a large number of lottery tickets.

Thomas, 45, was charged with felony possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, misdemeanor possession of marijuana less than one ounce and failing to register a change of address as a registered sex offender.

Solomon, 30, was charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana less than one ounce.

Two other males who were also detained were later released after questioning without being charged.

The search warrant was part of an ongoing drug investigation.

Sheriff Harry Young recently assigned Lt. Michael Logue, Lt. Jake Bush and Capt. Chris Luckey to the newly-formed Drug Unit to focus on narcotics investigations.

“The Grady County Sheriff’s Office has always been fortunate to have an ongoing working relationship with the Cairo Police Department and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and will continue to combat the drug problem we have in our community,” Luckey said in a statement.

A former North Georgia theater director pleaded guilty to aggravated statutory rape charges in Hamilton County, Tenn., Friday, Sept. 6.

Thirty-two-year-old Joshua Conrad “JC” Smith, who founded and operated the Rossville-based Closed Door Entertainment theater company, was arrested in December on five charges of aggravated statutory rape after an investigation alleged he’d engage in sexual contact with two female minors.

A Hamilton County grand jury indicted Smith on Dec. 12 over the actions that allegedly took place with the girls in early 2017. Smith was arrested two days later.

According to the Hamilton County District Attorney’s Office, Smith and his attorney stood before Judge Tom Greenholtz on Sept. 6 and entered a plea that had been agreed to by the victims and their families.

Per the plea agreement, Smith will serve six years of supervised probation under special sex offender conditions, which stipulate that he is not to have any contact with the victims or have any unsupervised contact with minors.

After the completion of the six-year sentence, Smith will be listed on Tennessee’s sex offender registry for an additional 10 years.

In the event that Smith violates the conditions of his probation, fails to report to his probation officer, or commits any additional crime, he’ll be required to serve the remainder of his sentence in jail.

Over the past decade, Smith has become a notable name in the North Georgia and Chattanooga performing arts scene.

In that time, Closed Door Entertainment produced shows at The Catoosa County Colonnade, and more recently at the Tivoli and Memorial Auditorium in Chattanooga.

At the time of his arrest, Smith also served as choir director at Harrison United Methodist Church, but was suspended from that position after the charges surfaced.

During Sept. 6 hearing, one of Smith’s victims read an impact statement recalling how she stays up every night crying because she can’t get the image of Smith laying over her out of her mind.

“I know that you watched me grow up,” the victim read aloud. “You watched as I got taller and smarter. You watched me when I was in middle school. You watched, and you picked me to hurt.”

Cameras that snap pictures and send tickets to speeders in a school zone will likely be installed in front of Rome High School before the end of the year.

There are still several actions necessary to set it up, but a presentation on RedSpeed USA’s automated enforcement system drew support from board members at their Monday caucus.

“There’s a consensus that we’re going to be moving forward,” Mayor Bill Collins said.

Greg Parks with RedSpeed said the Georgia General Assembly approved the cameras in 2018 but the Georgia Department of Transportation just recently adopted the rules governing their use.

“They’re just going into effect now,” he told the board.

Two dozen other cities, including Duluth and Lilburn, are in the process of enabling the systems. Parks first went before the city’s public safety committee, which recommended the installation.

“We can’t always be all places at all times,” Police Chief Denise Downer-McKinney said. “This is just another avenue to safeguard our children.”

If the cameras are effective on Veterans Memorial Highway, she said plans are to install them next on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, to protect the Main Elementary School zone.

Rome City Schools Superintendent Lou Byars and his director of safety and security Jason Self back the plan, said Commissioner Milton Slack, who chairs the public safety committee. Slack said the school board would also have to sign off.

Parks said a nine-hour test in front of Rome High turned up 274 motorists traveling at least 11 mph over the speed limit of 45 mph.

That’s the minimum speed a motorist could receive a school-zone camera ticket under the state law. Citations would go to the owner of the vehicle.

Park said the law is “more conservative” than an older, challenged, statute that once allowed speed cameras at red lights around the city.

The cameras may be on only when school is in session and GDOT must approve the permits. Fines are set at $75, with no points charged against the license. There’s also a license plate recognition component.

“An example would be for people who have temporary protective orders against them or registered sex offenders – people who shouldn’t be near the school,” Park said.

The system would be at no cost to taxpayers. RedSpeed would get 35% of the revenue from fines and Rome would get 65%, which must be used for public safety purposes.

City Attorney Andy Davis said the City Commission would have to adopt an ordinance allowing the use. A first reading could be as early as Aug. 26, with adoption in September.

Park said it would take about 90 days to get the GDOT permit and install the cameras. There would be signage and flashing lights where the technology is in use and a 30-day warning period where violators would just get a notice in the mail.

“This should be a surprise to no one,” he said.