Pickens County Man Arrested for the Sexual Exploitation of Children

PICKENS COUNTY, Ga. – The Georgia Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes (CEACC) Unit arrested and charged Ryan Kitchens, age 29, of Pickens County, Georgia, with seven counts of Sexual Exploitation of Children (five counts for possession and two counts for distribution) on Wednesday, February 28, 2024.

Additional unrelated charges were taken by the Jasper Police Department.

The GBI CEACC Unit began an investigation into Kitchens’ online activity after receiving a Cyber Tipline Report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) regarding the possible online possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material.

This investigation led to a search warrant at Kitchens’ home and his subsequent arrest.

The GBI CEACC unit was aided in the execution of this search warrant by the Jasper Police Department, Pickens County Sheriff’s Office, and the Department of Homeland Security Investigations.

Kitchens was booked into the Pickens 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 trade of child sexual abuse material.

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 sexual abuse material, and the heightened online activity by predators searching for unsupervised contact with underage victims.

Anyone with information about other cases of child exploitation is asked to contact the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation Unit at 404-270-8870 or report via the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children CyberTipline at CyberTipline.org.

Anonymous 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.