Richard Ensley. Photo: Cherokee County Sheriff's OfficeCHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. -
Cherokee County authorities, along with a number of other jurisdictions, say a Woodstock man is facing child pornography charges after they discovered thousands of child porn files in a home. Richard Ensley, 37, was arrested during the county's bi-annual sex-offender verification sweep on Thursday.
Officials say they conducted a week-long investigation after receiving a tip from their Internet Crimes Against Children unit.
According to authorities, they executed a search warrant at Ensley's home in Woodstock on Thursday and discovered 100,000 electronic files of child pornography on multiple computers. The files ranged from photographs to videos, and featured infants and children up to 16 years old. Some of the files go back more than 15 years, authorities said.
"He's collected it as well as traded it over the internet," said Major Ron Hunton of the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office.
Cherokee County Sheriff Roger Garrison said investigators are working to identify the victims in the pictures.
Cherokee County authorities are calling it the county's largest child pornography case. They said that Ensley was a computer analyst for a company in Cobb County. He was not a registered sex offender and had no prior record. Investigators said they will check the computers at his work for illegal material.
Ensley is charged with 25 counts of sexual child exploitation. He is being held at the Cherokee County Detention Center without bond. Authorities said more charges are possible.
