Former Wal Mart Manager sentenced on child porn charges, housed in Polk County jail

Steven Lynn Hines, age 54, of White, Georgia, was sentenced in United States District Court in Rome for collecting and trading images and videos of child sex abuse. Hines charges stem from evidence obtained through the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's "Operation Restore Hope".

"Operation Restore Hop"e was an investigation coordinated by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. During Operation Restore Hope, in 34 Georgia counties in connection with the distribution of child porn over the internet.

During its online investigation known as" Operation Restore Hope", the GBI identified Hines as someone who downloaded and traded images of child sex abuse. Images of child pornography found on the internet was traced to a computer in Hines’ home in White, Georgia.

A search warrant for Hines home was obtained and executed. During that search, hundreds of thousands of images of child sex abuse was seized by GBI agents. Evidence was also recovered showing that Hines actively traded these same images so that he could expand his collection and help others grow theirs.

Hines was arrested in December 2009 at a Wal Mart in Dawson County where he worked as an assistant manager. Hines was indicted in February of 2010, he guilty plea was entered in June of 2010.

United States District Court Judge Harold L. Murphy sentenced Hines to 7 years, 4 months in prison, to be followed by 10 years on supervised release. Hines will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from custody. Hines is currently being housed at the Polk County jail for United States Marshals. He was first booked into the Polk County jail on (03/04/2010)