A Guyton man is in the Effingham County Jail today facing child molestation charges.
The arrest of Brandon Fanning, 19, stemmed from an investigation by the Effingham County Sheriff’s Office’s Internet Crimes against Children (ICAC) task force and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
“The investigation revealed that Fanning had been molesting an underage boy and possessed videos of the sexual acts between he and the victim which he was sharing,” Sheriff’s spokesman David Ehsanipoor said.
He also was engaged in sexual acts with a dog, Ehsanipoor said.
Fanning was charged with aggravated child molestation, child molestation and sexual exploitation of a child.
Investigators contacted Fanning at a residence in the 100 block of Lakeshore Road in Guyton this morning.
This case remains under investigation by the Effingham County Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Homeland Security.
The Effingham County Sheriff’s Office is a member of the Georgia Internet Crimes against Children Task Force (ICAC).
The ICAC task force was created by the Department of Justice to help state and local law enforcement agencies enhance their investigative response to offenders who use the Internet, online communications systems or other computer technology to sexually exploit children.
The program is composed of 61 regional task force agencies across the nation and is funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Georgia’s ICAC Regional task force is supervised by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
“Protecting our children is one of the highest priorities at the Effingham County Sheriff’s Office, and we will continue to pursue these cases in the future with ICAC,” said Sheriff Jimmy McDuffie.