Child Predator Arrested in Georgia

ATLANTA—Special Agent in Charge Gregory Jones, FBI Atlanta, announces, on behalf of the Conasauga Safe Streets Task Force, the following arrest at Walker County, Georgia:

On Thursday, June 4, 2009, Robert Lee Ervin, age 39, of Sweetwater, Tennessee, was arrested by FBI agents and task force officers on state charges of child pornography and criminal attempt-child exploitation related to his attempt to engage in sexual activity with a 14-year-old girl. Ervin had been engaged in a series of Internet chats with what he thought was a 14-year-old girl. Ervin traveled to Walker County, Georgia from Tennessee to meet with this “minor child” and was subsequently arrested.

Ervin is currently being detained at the Walker County, Georgia Detention Facility.

The Conasauga Safe Streets Task Force consists of federal agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and officers from the Whitfield Sheriff’s Office, Dalton Police Department, and Calhoun Police Department.

The public is reminded that all persons are to be considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.