17 arrested on sexual exploitation of children charges: GBI

Yahoo

11-02-2025

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — 'Operation Byte Down,' a statewide law enforcement effort, led to the arrest of 17 people for sexual exploitation of children, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) said Tuesday.
Law enforcement agencies executed 30 residential search warrants across Georgia, the GBI said. Digital forensic investigators also previewed 137 electronic devices and seized 361 electronic devices, including cellular phones, tablets, computers, hard drives and various electronic data storage devices. A GBI spokesperson said the search warrants resulted in the 17 arrests.
Operation Byte Down also found 13 children that were living in households where online child sexual exploitation was occurring.
The GBI released the following list of people who were arrested and charged with sexual exploitation of children and other related offenses:
Kong Hon Yim, 63, of Duluth, Georgia, booked into the Gwinnett County Jail
Ezequiel Ortiz, 30, of Duluth, Georgia, booked into the Gwinnett County Jail
Jianglin Meng, 26, of Norcross, Georgia, booked into the Gwinnett County Jail
Morgan Albright, 18, of Winder, Georgia, booked into the Barrow County Jail
Steven Michael Yanizeski, 28, of Evans, Georgia, booked into the Columbia County Jail
Chaunansheng Fu, 28, of Doraville, Georgia, booked into the DeKalb County Jail
Steven Ray Mendenhall, 53, of Macon, Georgia, booked into the Bibb County Jail
Elvis Beltran Pineda, 25, of Alpharetta, Georgia, booked into the Forsyth County Jail
Richard Jason Lowery, 43, of Augusta, Georgia, booked into the Richmond County Jail
Patrick Dulebohn, 43, of Savannah, Georgia, booked into the Chatham County Jail
Dennis Farmer, 65, of Tifton, Georgia, booked into the Tift County Jail
Christian Havanki, 29, of Pooler, Georgia, booked into the Chatham County Jail
Thomas Walker, 37, of Helen, Georgia, booked into the White County Jail
Derrick Long, 25, of Kingsland, Georgia, booked into the Camden County Jail
Jonathan Sells, 39, of Cleveland, Georgia, booked into the White County Jail
Todd Shelton, 61, of Acworth, Georgia, booked into the Cherokee County Jail
Timothy Grimsley, 36, of Tifton, Georgia, booked into the Tift County Jail
One of those arrested admitted to current or prior hands-on sexual offenses against a child but was not directly identified by the GBI in their press release.
The GBI Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit and 33 other agencies that are members of the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, participated in the operation. You can view the agencies by clicking here.
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.
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