TBI agents charge Henry County man in child exploitation case

PARIS, Tenn. — Agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force have arrested and charged a man in connection to an ongoing investigation concerning online child sexual exploitation.

Brown, Ernest (DOB 3-17-1979) 📸: Tennessee Bureau of Investigation

According to officials, agents began their investigation after receiving information from the  National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

The information raised concerns about an individual, later identified as Ernest Brown, 45, who possessed and distributed files of child sexual abuse material through Facebook.

Agents determined that Brown was in possession of over 5,000 files of child sexual abuse material.

On April 26, in collaboration with TBI’s Criminal Investigation Division, TBI’s Cybercrime & Digital Evidence Unit, the Henry County Sheriff’s Department, and Homeland Security Investigations , agents searched Brown’s home.

Officials state they seized 10 electronic devices and subsequently arrested and charged brown with the following: 10 counts of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor and two counts of Aggravated Sexual Exploitation of a Minor.

Authorities booked him into the Henry County Jail on a $500,000 bond.

The investigation remains ongoing and anyone with information about Brown, in relation to these alleged crimes, should contact TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND or TipsToTBI@tbi.tn.gov.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is an ICAC affiliate of the Tennessee ICAC Task Force.

Anyone with information about cases of online child exploitation should contact the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Tipline at 1-800-TBI-FIND, TipsToTBI@tbi.tn.gov, or report via the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) CyberTipline at CyberTipline.org.

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