Two local men have been arrested for charges of possession and distribution of child pornography after a yearlong investigation by local and state law enforcement.

According to Cpl. Doug Rainwater, spokesman for the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, Perry Michael Abernathy, 69, and Kasai Diego Mercer, 18, both of Forsyth County, were arrested on Monday after local investigators concluded their investigation, which allegedly located “numerous images or videos of child pornography” on the two suspects’ computers.  

Rainwater said that the two suspects were first identified in 2017 when their computer IP addresses in Forsyth County were flagged for visiting websites known to traffic in child pornography. He said that earlier this year, the suspect’s hard drives and mobile devices were taken during a warranted search of their homes and were provided to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for forensic investigation.

“Over the last year we have been compiling evidence against these two,” Rainwater said. “Now the GBI has come back with all of the images that were found on their devices.”

He said during this investigation they believe that both suspects showed a pattern of personal use with the illicit images and found that both allegedly downloaded and shared images with others.

Both men were arrested in their homes on Monday.

Abernathy is charged with four felony counts for the possession and distribution of child pornography and one felony count for sexual exploitation of a minor. He is being held in the Forsyth County Jail under a bond of $55,570.

Mercer is charged with two felony counts for the possession and distribution of child pornography. He is being held at the Forsyth County Jail and was under no bond as of press time.