New charges were filed against a metro Atlanta man this week after analysis of a cellphone seized during an undercover drug operation in September allegedly yielded dozens of images depicting child sexual abuse.
Gabriel De Freitas Carvalho, 19, of Sandy Springs, was taken into custody by the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office on Jan. 7 and charged with 26 counts of sexual exploitation of children, authorities say.
Carvalho was initially charged with multiple narcotics offenses in September 2019 when he allegedly attempted to sell LSD and THC vaporizer cartridges to detectives with the Johns Creek Alpharetta Forsyth County Task Force.
According to a press release issued Friday, Carvalho was reportedly identified by the task force and arrested after undercover detectives discovered an advertisement for MDMA and LSD online, and organized a deal for LSD and THC at a location in Forsyth County.
Following Carvalho’s arrest, detectives were able to continue their investigation into the incident, obtaining a search warrant for Carvalho’s cellphone “due to the drug talk that was communicated with the undercover detective,” the report states.
“In November 2019, the District Attorney’s Office requested assistance from the [Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office’s High Tech Crimes Unit] regarding an existing narcotics investigation,” the report states. “The analysis yielded 26 images of child sexual abuse with victim children as young as 3 years of age.”
The images allegedly included one photo of a known and identified victim child, the report states.
After the images were discovered, 26 additional warrants were issued for Carvalho’s arrest and he was transported to the Forsyth County Jail from an address in Douglasville.
As of Friday evening, he was held in custody under a bond of $288,880.