GBI Arrests Canon Man in Sexual Exploitation of Children Investigation

HART COUNTY, Ga. – The GBI has arrested and charged Robert Kenyon Mercer, age 45, of Canon, Hart County, Georgia, with three counts of Unlawful Surveillance and three counts of Sexual Exploitation of Children.

In February of 2026, the GBI’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes (CEACC) Unit received a request from the North Carolina Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (NCICACTF) in reference to an Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) investigation. The initial investigation began when the NCICACTF received five Cyber Tipline Reports from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) regarding the distribution of child sexual abuse material. This investigation led to Georgia and ultimately resulted in Mercer’s arrest in Hart County.

Mercer was arrested on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, and booked into the Hart County Jail.

The Hart County Sheriff’s Office, the Georgia State Patrol, and the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office assisted with the investigation.

This investigation is part of the ongoing effort by the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, housed within the GBI’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit, to identify those involved in the trade of child sexual abuse material. The ICAC Program, created by the U.S. Department of Justice, was developed in response to the increasing number of children and teenagers using the internet, the proliferation of child sexual abuse material, and the heightened online activity by predators searching for unsupervised contact with underage victims.

Anyone with information about other cases of child exploitation is asked to contact the Georgia Bureau of Investigation CEACC Unit at 404-270-8870 or submit a tip via the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children CyberTipline at Cybertipline.org. Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.