GBI: Six arrested on child sexual exploitation charges

A total of seven people were arrested and one molestation victim was identified by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, during a coordinated effort between the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes (CEACC) Unit, and the GBI’s Special Enforcement Team (SET). Six of those arrested were charged with crimes related to the possession and distribution of child pornography pursuant to O.C.G.A. 16-12-100, Computer Pornography and Child Exploitation Prevention Act of 2007. One additional person was arrested on charges related to illegal drug possession. One of the arrestees was charged with illegal drug possession in addition to charges related to the possession and distribution of child pornography. Additional charges are possible and other arrests may occur after analysis of seized digital devices. The CEACC Unit investigated numerous cybertips received from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and partnered with GBI SET to execute search warrants related to those cybertip investigations. The cybertips involved the possession and/or distribution of explicit child sexual abuse images, commonly referred to as child pornography, that resolved to several metro Atlanta counties. The planning for this operation began approximately two months ago and culminated in four days of investigative actions to include search warrant executions, knock and talks, interviews, data and image analysis, digital forensic processing, and arrests.

During the effort, ten search warrants were executed. During those search warrants 101 digital devices were previewed by GBI Digital Forensic Investigators and at least 17 of those digital devices were seized as evidence. Thirty-three of the digital devices previewed were mobile phones. Investigators who work child exploitation investigations are increasingly seeing more mobile phones as the main instrument by which predators seek out child sexual abuse material and communicate with others who are like minded. They are also increasingly using mobile devices to contact children online. One person arrested was also found to have been chatting online with children as young as nine years old.

Arrested and charged during this coordinated operation include:

William Anderson, 55, Porterdale, GA, butcher (Newton County Jail)

Tanita Babb, 21, Hampton, GA, food service worker (illegal drug charges only) (Clayton County Jail)

William Calvin Babb, 20, Hampton, GA, food service worker (Clayton County Jail)

Earon Everett, 42, Jonesboro, GA, security guard (Clayton County Jail)

David Hawkins, Sr., 57, Social Circle, GA, industrial mechanic (Newton County Jail)

William Tornez Lucena, 20, East Point, GA, food service worker (Fulton County Jail)

Julio Cesar Rangal-Caston, 33, Riverdale, GA, unemployed (Clayton County Jail)

In addition to those agencies involved in the planning of the operation, the following agencies assisted:

Clayton County Police Department

East Point Police Department

Forest Park Police Department

Newton County Sheriff’s Office

Porterdale Police Department

Riverdale Police Department

The operation focused on persons who possess and distribute child sexual abuse images and those who are sexually exploiting children in other ways using technology and the internet. The GBI, which manages and coordinates the Georgia ICAC Task Force, received over 11,600 cybertips from NCMEC in 2020. Cybertips continue to increase exponentially each year. The GBI CEACC Unit is on track to receive over 15,000 cybertips in 2021. These cybertips most often involve horrific and shocking child sexual abuse images and videos involving children of all ages, including very young children, but also can involve the online enticement of children and child sex trafficking. These cybertips often lead investigators to children that are being sexually abused. There is a known statistical correlation between those who are seeking, collecting, and viewing child sexual abuse material and those that have sexually abused children or are actively sexually abusing children. In 2020, the Georgia ICAC Task Force found over 90 children living with offenders who are viewing child pornography and identified over 50 of them as victims of sexual abuse by those offenders as a result of investigating a cybertip from NCMEC. In 2020, 45 of the persons arrested by the Georgia ICAC Task Force were positively identified as “hands on offenders”, meaning they had participated in sexual contact with a child.

https://valdostatoday.com/news-2/region/2021/09/gbi-six-arrested-on-child-sexual-exploitation-charges/

Whistleblower wants more probing into whether VA announcement leaked to 'enable insider trading'

The 2020 public announcement was on whether vets could still use G.I. bill to go to some for-profit schools.

A whistleblower group is calling for further investigation into whether information about a Department of Veterans Affairs plan last year to prevent veterans from using G.I. benefits at some for-profit schools was either mishandled or intentionally leaked to "enable insider trading."

The agency announced its intentions in a March 2020 press release, but the uptick in investor activities ahead of the public announcement is raising concerns for the watchdog group Empower Oversight and others.

"Based on stock price, volume, and data on short selling (betting that a stock price will fall), it appears that some in the market may have traded on that inside information in the weeks leading up to the VA’s official public announcement," says nonprofit, nonpartisan Empower Oversight.

The group says a major concern is the release "appears to have leaked in advance to select groups before the general public," based on its own whistleblower contacts as well as those with Congress and Executive Branch authorities, in addition to public reports and documents.

"Because some of the schools were operated by publicly traded companies with substantial veteran student enrollments, anyone with advanced knowledge of the VA announcement could have profited handsomely at the expense of average investors by trading on that information before the news became public," also argues the group, led by Jason Foster, who was chief investigative counsel Iowa GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley when chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"During the relevant period, one company lost 58%, or $800 million, of its market capitalization, before the VA decided to reverse its initial announcement."

The matter has been the subject of news reports, a federal FOIA lawsuit and congressional oversight letters. It has also been addressed by the VA Inspector General, and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

However, Empower Oversight says its analysis of the facts suggests that further investigation by the proper authorities is necessary to:

confirm whether the VA's selective release of information enabled insider trading;

hold accountable any officials who improperly released information early;

improve the VA’s procedures for handling market moving information to ensure fair and equal access for all investors.

https://justthenews.com/accountability/whistleblowers/whistleblower-wants-more-probing-whether-va-announcement-leaked

Facebook CTO To Step Down After 13 Years

Facebook Chief Technology Officer Mike Schroepfer, the man who oversees the the social giant's work in artificial intelligence, virtual reality and the blockchain, will step down next year after 13 years with the company; he will be replaced by longtime Facebook executive, Andrew Bosworth, will take over as CTO, Bloomberg reported citing an internal message on Wednesday from Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg

Schroepfer’s move - which comes on a day Facebook shares tumbled after the company warned Apple's privacy changes will have a bigger Q3 impact than it previously disclosed - marks the most significant departure from the company in years and follows the recent exits of several other top executives.

Schroepfer joined Facebook in 2008 and has been CTO since 2013, reporting directly to Zuckerberg. He sits atop many of Facebook’s most ambitious organizations – including groups that the social network is depending on for future growth - such as engineering, infrastructure, augmented reality and VR, and the blockchain and finance unit. His desk sits next to Zuckerberg’s and operating chief Sheryl Sandberg’s at Facebook headquarters.

Schroepfer’s most central role has been his oversight of Facebook’s AI organization, which he helped build. That group develops the technology Facebook uses to automatically find and remove content that violates its policies, like nudity, hate speech and graphic violence.

According to Bloomberg, Schroepfer, 46, will continue to advise the company in a new part-time “senior fellow” role, helping with recruiting technical talent and developing the company’s artificial intelligence initiatives. “This new position will also create more space for me to dedicate time to my family and my personal philanthropic efforts while staying deeply connected to the company,” Schroepfer wrote in an internal post.

“Boz will continue leading Facebook Reality Labs and overseeing our work in augmented reality, virtual reality and more, and as part of this transition a few other groups will join Facebook Reality Labs over the next year as well,” Zuckerberg wrote to employees.

Before joining Facebook, Schroepfer worked for web browser maker Mozilla. A Stanford University graduate, he has become one of the most visible Facebook executives, often speaking at events and at Facebook’s own annual developer conference. He represented the social network at a hearing before the U.K. Parliament to discuss the company’s Cambridge Analytica data-sharing scandal in 2018.

He cuts a high profile internally as well, frequently appearing at companywide meetings, and is the executive sponsor for the internal “Women@ Facebook” employee group.

Schroepger's departure is the latest in a series of veteran executives leaving the company in recent months. Fidji Simo, the head of the company’s flagship social networking app, left in July to become CEO at Instacart Inc., and was joined there shortly after by Carolyn Everson, who was a Facebook vice president running its global business relationships with advertisers. Both women were at Facebook for more than 10 years.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/facebook-cto-step-down-after-13-years