Habersham County Man Arrested for Child Sexual Exploitation

Mount Airy, GA (February 26, 2021) – On Thursday, February 25, 2021, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit (CEACC) and the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at the residence of Brenton Lee Lawson, 36, in Mount Airy, Habersham County, GA. An investigation into Lawson’s internet activity by the GBI’s CEACC Unit began after a report was received from the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) related to the possession of child pornography by Lawson via the internet. This investigation led to a search warrant of Lawson’s residence in Habersham County, GA, and subsequently Lawson’s arrest. As a result of the investigation, Lawson was arrested and charged with three counts of Possession of Child Pornography and one count of Possession of Methamphetamine. Lawson was booked into the Habersham 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 child pornography trade and the online sexual exploitation of children. 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 pornography, and the heightened online activity by predators searching for unsupervised contact with underage victims.

Anyone with information about this case or any other cases of child exploitation is asked to contact the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Computer Crimes and Child Exploitation Unit at 404-270-8870.