Friday, May 15, 2004

Computer training laid groundwork for online bust of Newnan man By JOHN MUNFORD jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com The Peachtree City police officer who posed undercover to catch a Newnan man on child exploitation and computer porn charges received special training for such investigations. Corporal Heather Lackey was one of several area officers who received the training that was facilitated in 2001 by the Fayette County District Attorney’s office. District Attorney Bill McBroom said this is the first time any such case has been made in the Griffin Judicial Circuit, which includes Fayette, Spalding, Pike and Upson counties. The 2001 training session covered a variety of computer crimes including child exploitation, child pornography, stalking and harassing over the Internet, threats and domestic violence and credit card/consumer fraud, McBroom said. Officers from the Peachtree City, Fayetteville and Tyrone police departments attended the training with other agencies from the circuit and several assistant district attorneys, McBroom said. They were introduced to computer forensics, ideas to implement a computer crime investigative unit and special investigative techniques, McBroom added. The training was funded with money from the drug forfeiture fund and victim witness fund administered by McBroom’s office. McBroom said he had felt the training was necessary because of the increasing use of computers. “My position was we need to get in on the ground floor,” McBroom said. “We don’t want to be playing catch-up.” He also jokingly admitted that he isn’t much of a computer user. “I’m limited in my computer knowledge,” McBroom said. Chief James Murray of the Peachtree City Police Department lauded Cpl. Lackey’s work on the case, which became difficult at times, he noted. “She did a great job,” Murray said. Police said Lackey would log on to chat rooms on the Internet and wait to be approached by someone else. Although some critics might call such tactics “entrapment,” McBroom said entrapment involves “overcoming somebody’s will” to perform an act. “Giving you an opportunity to commit the crime is not entrapment,” McBroom said.