DECATUR – The Georgia Bureau of Investigation recently received the IACP/Thomson Reuters Award for Excellence in Criminal Investigation during the 2018 International Association of Chiefs of Police Annual Awards Banquet in Orlando, Fla. 

Accepting the award were GBI Special Agent Elizabeth Bigham and Digital Forensic Investigator Jacob Toulomelis, according to state officials. 

The GBI Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit conducted an investigation of sexual exploitation from December 2015 through June 2017. 

After a single victim stepped forward, the team’s efforts resulted in the discovery of more than 30 additional victims, as well as an arrest and indictment of the suspect. Due to the complex digital forensics required for this case, the GBI utilized expertise of multiple state, local and federal agencies. 

The strategy to search for additional victims using the initial victims’ internet provider addresses, social media accounts and “machine cookies” of e-mails sent by the suspect was innovative and resulted in the suspect’s identification, state officials said. 

Also recognized were the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Georgia.

The IACP/Thomson Reuters Award for Excellence in Criminal Investigation is given to a law-enforcement agency, law-enforcement unit, task force or inter-agency task force in recognition of exceptional innovation in criminal investigations. 

Each year, IACP receives entries from agencies around the globe where technology, traditional police work, and in some examples, inter-agency collaboration, meet to solve crimes ranging from unsolved cases and missing persons, to financial crimes and human trafficking. 

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is the only agency to have received the award twice, state officials said.