Columbia County Elderly Man Arrested for Sexual Exploitation of Children Following Online Tip

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes (CEACC) Unit arrested and charged Harold Sinclair, age 72, of Columbia County, GA with five counts of Sexual Exploitation of Children on Thursday, April 18, 2024. 

The GBI CEACC Unit began an investigation into Sinclair’s online activity after receiving several Cyber tip line reports from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) regarding the possible online possession of child sexual abuse material. This investigation led to a search warrant of Sinclair’s home and his subsequent criminal charges. The Georgia Cybercrimes Center and Columbia County Sheriff’s Office aided the GBI CEACC Unit in the execution of this search warrant.  

Sinclair was booked at the Columbia 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.