Former cop facing child sex charges

Published 1:29 pm Friday, July 26, 2019

CAIRO — A former Whigham cop has been charged with more than 30 felonies in relation to multiple alleged child sex crimes.

Lloyd Aiello, 51, was taken into custody July 16 on multiple counts of incest, aggravated child molestation, aggravated sexual battery and enticing a child for indecent purposes, among other charges, that the Georgia Bureau of Investigations says he committed in Grady County roughly between 2011 and 2017.

Email newsletter signup

GBI has identified two alleged victims, and Special Agent in Charge Jamy Steinberg said he was not sure if more may be uncovered as the case continues to be investigated.

The allegations were first reported to law enforcement in Cleveland, Georgia in early June. The Grady County Sheriff’s Office was notified of the allegations, and GBI’s involvement was requested on June 6.

Law enforcement tracked Aiello to a shelter in Barrow County where he was arrested.

Aiello was then transferred to the Grady County Jail on July 18, where he remains in custody without bond.

GBI is continuing to sift through evidence they have obtained in the case, much of which has come from digital devices Aiello used or had access to.

Steinberg could not say whether additional charges will be added in the future.

Aiello, who previously went by the name Lloyd Cook, served as a police officer in Whigham for 10 months beginning in late 2002 before being given the option to either resign or be terminated.

Whigham Police Chief Tony Black said Aiello took actions as an officer that were unsafe, mostly to himself, that led to his eventual resignation.

“We just felt like he was not police material,” Black said.

GBI is unsure if any of Aiello’s alleged offenses occurred while he was employed with the Whigham Police Department.

Black said there was no chance that any of Aiello’s alleged crimes occurred while he was with the department.

“If he would have been, you’d have read about it in 2003,” Black said.