Paulding Man Convicted of Possessing Child Pornography

(Paulding County, GA) On July 16, 2018, Michael Peter Marrero (W/M, 42 YOA) stood in front of Paulding County Superior Court Chief Judge Tony Beavers and pled guilty to 61 counts of Sexual Exploitation of Children (possession of child pornography). The plea was non-negotiated and Judge Beavers sentenced Marrero to 40 years where he would serve 20 years in state prison. The remaining 20 years will be served on probation and he will be listed as a Registered Sex Offender and will be bound by all of the sexual offender conditions and restrictions that apply to that designation.
In October of 2015, Detectives with the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office Crimes Against Children Unit launched an investigation into Marrero. After a yearlong investigation into Marrero, Detectives obtained a search warrant in March of 2016 for his residence. While Deputies and Detectives served the search warrant, they discovered that Marrero was actively online attempting to delete evidence during their entry. It was later determined that Marrero’s attempts to delete evidence were futile. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation CEACC Unit assisted with the computer forensics portion of the case and were able to recover most of the files Marrero attempted to delete. Marrero was arrested at the time the search warrant was executed and subsequently indicted by a Paulding County Grand Jury on 61 counts of Sexual Exploitation of Children (OCGA 16-12-100) for the possession and distribution of child pornography.
The Paulding County Sheriff’s Office has been an affiliate member of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force since 2008. If you have information on anyone who possesses child pornography, please call the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office Crimes Against Children Unit at (770) 445-6105.