TENNESSEE — Multiple law enforcement agencies executed a search warrant at a Tennessee home Friday after it was discovered that thousands of child sexual abuse files were distributed through a computer software program, according to the state bureau of investigation.
Authorities arrested 70-year-old Charles David Vinyard of Grand Junction and charged him with 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and 10 counts of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor.
Vinyard was booked into the Hardeman County Jail. Grand Junction is a short distance from the Mississippi state line.
This was the culmination of a nearly month-long undercover investigation by special agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) squad and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
Agents started investigating April 15 “after it was discovered that thousands of files of child sexual abuse material had been distributed from a residence on Hardeman Street in Grand Junction through a file sharing software,” a TBI news release states.
ICAC and HSI were assisted in the execution of the search warrant by the Hardeman County Sheriff’s Office and the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, and “multiple devices” were seized from Vinyard’s home.
