Muscogee County Man Arrested for the Sexual Exploitation of Children

Columbus, GA (March 28, 2024) - The Georgia Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes (CEACC) Unit arrested and charged Gabriel Hicks, age 23, of Muscogee County, Georgia, with four counts of Sexual Exploitation of Children on Wednesday, March 27, 2024.

The GBI CEACC Unit began an investigation of Hicks' illicit online activity, which led to a search warrant at Hicks' home and his subsequent arrest. The GBI CEACC unit was aided in the execution of this search warrant by the Muscogee County Sheriff's Office Special Response Team.

Hicks was taken to the Muscogee County Jail upon his arrest.

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 and Computer Crimes 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.