LAW ENFORCEMENT
A Jones County man, who until last Thursday was a deputy with the Jones County Sheriff’s Office, is now in jail facing four charges of sexual exploitation of children.
Kevin Harden, 42, was arrested April 13 after warrants were served at his residence by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit, with the assistance of members of the JCSO and the GBI Milledgeville Regional Investigative Office.
The warrants show that two of the sexual exploitation charges were for possession of child pornography and the other two were for the distribution of child pornography. The warrants were explicit in the pornographic acts found on each of the videos. Jones County Sheriff Butch Reece announced the firing of Harden and his arrest in a Facebook post Thursday afternoon.
“This morning I had the distinct duty to fulfill an oath I initially took over 42 years ago by firing and subsequently arresting one of my deputies that failed to fulfill his oath. Deputy Kevin Harden, who has been with our Office since 2017, was fired, taken into custody and charged with sexual exploitation of children,” he said.
Reece said he was disgusted by this behavior and wished to convey his prayers to any child or parent who have been victims of sexual exploitation. He also expressed his appreciation to those who worked the case.
“Thank you to members of the Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for their hard work as well as all of the dedicated men and women of Law Enforcement who go to work every day to protect our children and expose those who prey on them. Evil comes in many forms and anyone involved in sexually exploiting or harming a child should realize there is a special place in hell for them,” he said.
A GBI press release by Contact Special Agent in Charge Brian Johnston April 13 stated that a search warrant was executed at a home in Jones County, regarding a sexual exploitation of children investigation.
He said the investigation began after the GBI CEACC Unit, the host agency for the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, received a cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Johnston said the cybertip involved the possession of explicit child sexual abuse material that led to a resident of Jones County. As a result of the search warrant execution, GBI agents and digital forensic investigators seized electronic devices found to contain child sexual abuse material.
He said during the course of the investigation, it was determined that Harden was employed as a deputy sheriff for in Jones County, and he was immediately terminated from his position.
“The sexual exploitation of children will not be tolerated at any level, particularly from those in law enforcement that are sworn to protect,” Johnston said.
The press release identified Johnston as the Commander of the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.
The commander added that Reece and his department were instrumental in assisting in the investigation and making sure that Harden was held accountable for his actions.
The press release also stated that the investigation was part of the ongoing effort by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, housed within the GBI’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit, to identify those involved in the child pornography trade.
