Hall County Man Arrested for Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Materials

HALL COUNTY, Ga. – Detectives with the Hall County Sheriff’s Office recently served arrest warrants for a Hall County man accused of possessing and sharing multiple child sexual abuse (CSAM) videos earlier this year.

Blake Lawrence Edwards, 32, a resident of Walnut Grove Way in northern Hall County, faces 108 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. Those charges include two counts of distributing two videos of CSAM via a peer-to-peer file-sharing platform and 106 counts of possessing videos of CSAM on two external hard drives found at his residence.

The investigation into Edwards began in March when authorities became aware of his online activity involving sharing CSAM videos. On May 14, detectives executed search warrants at his home, seizing multiple electronic devices, including the hard drives containing the illegal content. Edwards was not present at the residence during the search.

Authorities have stated that there is no evidence that CSAM was produced locally.

Edwards was arrested last Friday in Hall County. He is currently being held in the Hall County Jail without bail.

According to the Gwinnett Daily Post, Edwards was a teacher at Mountain View High School. Gwinnett school officials told the Gwinnett Daily Post that he resigned just nine days after the sheriff’s office executed his search warrants. He was hired by MVHS on July 24, 2023.

Anyone with information about the case is urged to contact Hall County Dispatch at 770-536-8812.