An Effingham County man found in possession more than a hundred images of child pornography in July was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison.
Ronald Mullins, 50, pled guilty in Effingham County Superior Court to charges of sexual exploitation of children and possession of child pornography and was sentenced by Judge John R. Turner.
The Effingham County Sheriff’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force searched Mullins’ home on Barrister Circle on July 18 and found photos and videos of child pornography on his computer. The images were of boys and girls between the ages of 4 and 12, investigators said.
“Mullins was one of those cases that the neighbors had no idea of the kind of child pornography he was downloading and viewing,” ECSO spokesman Detective David Ehsanipoor said following the sentencing.
Mullins’ arrest shook up his neighbors in the Barrister Crossing subdivision. He had exhibited no warning signs of the type of criminal behavior he was involved in, according to neighbors and investigators.
“He caused a lot of tension because he lived in a subdivision with a lot of kids in it and he had no prior record,” Ehsanipoor said.
On the night after Mullins’ arrest, Barrister Crossing hosted a “night out” against crime. Representatives from the ECSO, Effingham Fire Rescue and Georgia State Patrol attended the cookout to share safety tips with children and parents.
At least one Barrister Crossing resident had hoped for a harsher penalty for Mullins’ crime.
“I don’t think he got near enough punishment,” Casandra Martins said Thursday. “It puts a sexual predator back on the streets in only a few years. We all know he will spend five years or less in prison for a crime that exploited innocent children.”
After ICAC Task Force members showed up at Mullins’ home in July and found the child porn on his computer, he confessed on the spot.
“He said to us, ‘I know why you’re here. It’s all on this computer,’” Ehsanipoor said the day after Mullins’ arrest. “He admitted he is sick in the head. He said he’s been doing this for two or three years now and he knows he has a problem.”
Mullins is being held in the Effingham County Jail until he is turned over to the state Department of Corrections.
