Canton Man Convicted Of Sexually Exploiting Children

CANTON, GA — A 31-year-old man was recently convicted of sexual exploitation after images of children being sexually abused were found on his devices in 2019, District Attorney Susan K. Treadaway said Wednesday.

Treadaway said in a news release Chas McKinley Bryan, of Canton, was convicted on June 30 of five counts of sexual exploitation of children following a bench trial in Cherokee County.

Authorities were alerted in March 2019 to Bryan's Cherokee County home, where Treadaway said child pornography was being downloaded on devices. A search warrant was conducted in May 2019, and deputies removed electronic devices that contained multiple images of children being sexually abused, Treadaway said. Bryan had images and videos of children as young as toddlers, she said.

Superior Court Judge David Cannon Jr. found Bryan guilty, and sentencing will occur at a later date.

“Each time an image or video of a child being sexually assaulted is viewed, downloaded or distributed, that child is victimized again," Assistant District Attorney Rachel Clark said in the release. "The children depicted in this abusive imagery may be nameless strangers on the internet, but their innocence is deserving of protection."