Forsyth County Chief Deputy Grady Sanford charged with distribution of child pornography
News November 11, 2020
FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — Forsyth County Chief Deputy Grady Sanford has been arrested on charges of child pornography after a search uncovered evidence that child sexual abuse images had been uploaded to the internet at his home in Cherokee County.
According to a Georgia Bureau of Investigation press release, the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) sent a report to the bureau that the images had been uploaded to the internet and the computer’s IP address was in Cherokee County.
The GBI alerted Forsyth County Sheriff it had been issued a search warrant of the home that involved one of his employees. When the search warrant revealed probable cause to make an arrest, Freeman immediately terminated Sanford.
“To say this is a shock is a gross understatement. We intentionally set our standards high at Forsyth County,” Freeman said. “Regardless of rank, every employee must meet those moral and legal standards. There is no room for this type of crime in our state, and certainly not in the law enforcement profession. Our trust and that of our community has been betrayed. I’ve made a commitment to be transparent, even when one of our own employees does wrong. No one is exempt and no one is above the law.”
Sanford was charged with two counts of distribution of child pornography and booked into the Cherokee County jail. He was released on a $5,600 bond.
The case is being investigated by the GBI.
Anyone with information about other cases of child exploitation is asked to contact the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit at 404-270-8870.
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