A Brooks man arrested Dec. 22 for the molestation of two underage female victims faces new charges of possession of electronic pornography and child exploitation.
Thomas J. Brandlehner, 57, of 135 Elsberry Lane east of Brooks, was initially charged with one count of aggravated sexual battery, one count of sexual battery, two counts of child molestation and two counts of enticing a child for indecent purposes, according to Fayette County Sheriff Barry Babb. The new charges include possession of electronic pornography and child exploitation.
“I will only divulge the fact that the victims are female. We have a moral and legal obligation to protect the identity of the victims,” Babb said. “Brooks is a small community and any more descriptive information could lead to knowledge of who the girls are and therefore no further information will be released by our office.”
Babb said on Dec. 21 his office was advised of a child molestation which took place at 135 Elsberry Lane.
The sheriff’s Criminal Investigations Division and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit conducted a search warrant at the address, where GBI investigators assisted with the evidence retrieval of the home computer, Babb said.
“Investigators located several terabyte hard drives of child pornography images and videos from the home computer,” Babb said.
While theinvestigation is not complete, Babb said GBI investigators found images on Brandlehner’s computer which allowed the additional charges to be made.
Babb said further charges are pending while the case in being investigated by the sheriff’s office and GBI agents.
