An Athens man is facing a charge of sexual exploitation of children. According to a release from the Athens-Clarke County Police Department, the ACCPD’s Special Victims Unit began an investigation into 39-year-old Timothy Lee Randles’ online activity.
A March tip to Cyber Tipline Report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding the possible online possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material led to the arrest.
The FBI and GBI assisted with the investigation.
This is an ongoing investigation, and anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Detective Dara Shapland at 762-400-7198 or Dara.Shapland@accgov.com.
Full ACCPD release:
On April 16, 2026, the Athens-Clarke County Police Department arrested and charged Timothy Lee Randles, age 39, of Athens, with one count of Sexual Exploitation of Children.
In March 2026, ACCPD’s Special Victims Unit began an investigation into Randles’ online activity after receiving a Cyber Tipline Report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) regarding the possible online possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material. This investigation led to Randles’ arrest.
The FBI and GBI assisted with the investigation.
This investigation is part of an ongoing effort by the ACCPD’s Special Victims Unit, which is a member of the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, 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 the increasing number of children and teenagers using the internet, the proliferation of child sexual abuse material, and the heightened online activity by predators searching for unsupervised contact with underage victims.
This is an ongoing investigation, and anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Detective Shapland at 762-400-7198 or Dara.Shapland@accgov.com.
Anyone with information about other cases of child exploitation is asked to contact the GBI CEACC Unit at 404-270-8870 or submit a tip via the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children CyberTipline at Cybertipline.org. Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.
