HARALSON COUNTY, Ga. — A Northwest Georgia man will serve decades in prison after a multi-count child sexual exploitation conviction.
Stephen Scott Thompson pled guilty to eight counts of sexually exploiting children, for possession child sexual abuse materials, on Thursday in Haralson County.
According to the Haralson County Sheriff’s Office, Knight was put under investigation in July 2024, when Internet Crimes Against Children investigators received more than 40 cybertips about a person, later identified as Knight, living in Haralson County that was downloading the illegal material.
Sgt. Brent Duggins, who received the tips, also testified to the content of the videos in court.
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“I’m grateful to the G.B.I., the many federal agencies and the Haralson County Sheriff’s Office for their hard work on this case,” District Attorney Jaeson Smith said in a statement. “The public needs to know our office will continue to aggressively prosecute these sick individuals who possess child sexual abuse material.”
Investigators verified some of the files in question were child sexual abuse materials, collected more evidence of Knight’s actions, then got warrants for his arrest.
On Aug. 1, 2024, deputies and other officers took Knight into custody and a search warrant was served as his Buchanan home. Officers seized electronic devices and two firearms.
While processing the evidence collected, officers verified more than 1,000 videos and images were abuse materials, found on a 30-terabyte hard drive with millions of materials suspected to be illegal but not processed “due to the overwhelming evidence already found.”
The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives took the firearms for a separate case as Knight was already a convicted felon, according to the Haralson County Sheriff’s Office.
“I appreciate the hard work that Sgt. Duggins put into this very difficult case. As I have said in the past, these cases are very difficult, in part due to the horrendous images and videos that investigators have to see and verify,” Sheriff Stacy Williams said, praising the investigator who pursued the case, adding that the sheriff’s office “will always work to protect children and make sure those that harm children are prosecuted to the fullest extent.”
Knight got sentenced to 40 years, with 20 to be served in prison.
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