Cartersville Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Production Charges

A Cartersville man has pleaded guilty to producing child pornography, a heinous crime that has left a trail of destruction in its wake. Ian Alicea Prewett, 30, of Cartersville, Georgia, admitted to engaging in sex acts with minors under the age of 18 and enticed a child under the age of eight to produce sexually explicit images.

According to the Department of Justice, Prewett uploaded sexually explicit digital images of minors to Instagram, trying to conceal his online identity. However, federal agents identified him as the individual who uploaded the images and obtained a warrant to search his home in May 2023. During the search, agents discovered a cell phone associated with the Instagram accounts that Prewett used to distribute child pornography.

Prewett’s crimes did not stop there. He was also awaiting trial in Cobb County, Georgia, for statutory rape, child molestation, and child enticement. Those charges resulted from Prewett chatting with a 14-year-old girl on Instagram, asking her to send him sexually explicit photographs of herself, meeting her at her school bus stop, engaging in sexual intercourse with her, and then dropping her off at her school.

Prewett’s use of social media to entice minors to create sexually explicit material and engage in sexual acts is a stark reminder of the dangers of online exploitation. One of his victims was a minor under eight years old living in the United Kingdom, whom Prewett directed to send him pictures and videos of herself performing sexual acts. He also instructed a minor from Mobile, Alabama to do the same, and later traveled to Alabama to meet, photograph, and engage in sex acts with the minor.

“Prewett preyed upon innocent children by enticing them to send him sexually explicit images and then victimized two minors, including during an out-of-state trip, by sexually assaulting those children,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan. “This office remains steadfast in our commitment to work with our law enforcement partners to uncover and prosecute child sexual predators attempting to lurk behind the anonymity of the internet.”

U.S. Attorney Buchanan added, “Due to the dedication of our special agents and law enforcement partners, Prewett is no longer able to victimize children within our communities.”

Sentencing for Ian Alicea Prewett is scheduled for September 3, 2024, at 3:00 p.m. before U.S. District Judge William M. Ray, II in Rome, Georgia.

This case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations with assistance from the Cobb County Police Department, Bartow County Sheriff’s Office, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and Wiltshire Police (United Kingdom). Assistant U.S. Attorneys Theodore S. Hertzberg and Calvin A. Leipold, III are prosecuting the case.

This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

For further information, please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.