MITCHELL COUNTY, Ga. (WALB) — A, now former, Mitchell County middle grades teacher was arrested and charged for child sex crimes, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) said Wednesday, May 20.

Willie James Silas, 34, from Baconton, was charged by the GBI with sexual exploitation of children, grooming of a minor for sexual offense and child molestation, the agency said.

The GBI said Wednesday that Silas is a teacher at Mitchell County Middle School.

The Mitchell County School System said in a statement that Silas is “no longer on our campus.”

Read the school system’s statement in full below:

The GBI said its Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes (CEACC) Unit received a request in April from the New Castle County Police Department in Delaware tied to an Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) investigation involving a child victim in Delaware.

The case led investigators to Georgia and to Silas’ arrest in St. Augustine, Florida, the agency said.

Silas was reportedly arrested Tuesday, May 5, and booked into the St. Johns County Jail, according to the GBI. He was later extradited to Georgia and booked into the Mitchell County Jail, officials said.

Authorities said the investigation is part of the ongoing effort by the ICAC Task Force, housed within the GBI’s CEACC Unit, to identify those involved in the trade of child sexual abuse material.

The ICAC Program, created by the U.S. Department of Justice, was developed in response to increased internet use by children and teens, the proliferation of child sexual abuse material and heightened online activity by predators seeking unsupervised contact with minors.

Anyone with information about child exploitation cases is encouraged to contact the GBI CEACC Unit at 404-270-8870 or submit a tip through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children CyberTipline here. Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477) or online here, the GBI said.

The GBI said the New Castle County Police Department (Delaware), the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office (Florida), the Mitchell County Sheriff’s Office, and the Camilla Police Department assisted in the investigation.

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