2635 Century Parkway Suite 400
Atlanta, GA 30345
(404) 679-9000

Contact: SA Stephen Emmett
Desk: (404) 679-6451
Cell: (404) 392-2506

For Immediate Release
Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Atlanta – Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Gregory Jones, FBI Atlanta, and Director Vernon Keenan, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, announce the filing of Federal charges on Jesse Scott Ward, 27, of Crawfordville, Georgia. Ward was charged via Federal Criminal Complaint filed in Federal Court charging him with the Possession and Transportation of Child Pornography in violation of Title 18 of the United States Code.

Earlier today, Ward appeared before a United States Magistrate Judge for an initial appearance in Augusta, Georgia.

Ward was previously arrested by federal and state authorities on Sunday, October 28, 2007 at approximately 2:30 am in the parking lot of a business on Washington Road in Thomson, Georgia.

The FBI and GBI administer task forces designed to assist in the investigations and prosecutions of individuals who use the Internet to exploit children. Information assisting in the investigation of Ward was provided to local FBI and GBI offices by the GBI’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) and the Innocent Images International Task Force (IIITF) co-located with the FBI’s Innocent Images Unit.

The joint FBI/GBI investigation, part of the United States Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Childhood”, is continuing and the public is reminded that the above charges are allegations and that all persons are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Anyone with information regarding this matter is asked to contact the FBI’s Augusta Resident Agency at 706-722-3702 or the GBI’s Thomson Regional Office at 706-595-2575.