Ex-church intern charged with child pornography

By Michele Hester
DawsNews
June 25, 2014

http://www.dawsonnews.com/section/5/article/15096/

A former youth ministry intern from Dawsonville faces nearly three dozen child pornography charges in connection with an investigation that originated earlier this year in neighboring Forsyth County.

According to Dawson County jail records, more than 30 warrants were issued Friday for Sean E. Paul, 28. He was arrested on Monday.

Paul has been charged with 32 counts of sexual exploitation of children and a single count of child pornography, all felonies.

He also faces charges of child molestation, enticing a child for indecent purposes and electronically furnishing obscene material to a minor in Forsyth County.

It was his March arrest in Cumming that led investigators to his Richmond Drive home, where Dawson County Sheriff's Capt. Tony Wooten said "a significant amount of child pornography" was found on electronic and computer equipment.

Prior to his arrest, Paul was an intern for the youth minister at First Christian Church on Sawnee Drive in Cumming.

After being confronted with the initial allegations, he "immediately resigned" from that position, which he had held for less than a year, according to church officials.

The alleged victim in that case had reportedly become acquainted with Paul through the church. At the time, Forsyth County Sheriff Duane Piper said there "could be additional victims."

Wooten said investigators are also looking into conversations Paul had with young girls in which he allegedly told them about sexual encounters he had with other minors.

"During his talk with an underage girl, he mentioned that he's done sexual acts before with underage females," Wooten said. "We don't know if that's true, so the investigation is ongoing. But obviously, that's disturbing and is being looked into."