A LaFayette man arrested Monday on federal child pornography charges is a well-known tennis coach who has instructed countless children.

James Bartholomew "Bart" Huskey, 38, has been charged with manufacturing child pornography and uploading it to the Internet.

Patti Scott, LaFayette parks and recreation director, said Husky has served the LaFayette area for several years as a tennis instructor, working with countless children and young people.

She said Huskey rents the department’s tennis courts. “His lessons are offered privately,” Scott said. Huskey is not an employee of either the recreation department or the city of LaFayette, she said.

Authorities said Huskey made a series of child pornography videos depicting his repeated rapes of a young girl over the course of several years.

David Nahmias, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, said, "This defendant allegedly produced a notorious series of images of child sexual abuse that have circulated around the world, with demand from the most hard-core and despicable child porn consumers. The series of videos depict a girl being abused from the time she was approximately 5 years old to when she was 9 years old. Law enforcement around the country has taken extraordinary steps to find this alleged predator, and he has now allegedly been found, in Northwest Georgia."

Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson said Huskey is in the custody of the U.S. Marshal’s Office in Atlanta.

Husky made an initial court appearance in Atlanta late Tuesday.

Huskey's children have been placed in foster care by local authorities.

The investigation

Using details in some of the photos and videos, law enforcement was able to identify Huskey as the alleged perpetrator of the sexual abuse depicted in the series of images.

Nahmias presented information in court on Tuesday that stated that in June 2006, authorities in Australia informed FBI headquarters’ Innocent Images Unit about an international investigation into the activities of a group of child pornography traders. These traders used sophisticated security measures to protect their trading of child porn from authorities. FBI agents began investigating this group and recovered particularly graphic and disturbing photos and videos depicting sexual abuse of a young girl being traded among the group.

According to a statement released by authorities on Tuesday:

“Over the last two years, the images of this child being violently sexually assaulted grew gradually worse. The Innocent Images Unit of the FBI, working with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, (NCMEC), the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Richmond Field Office of the FBI, Maine State Police, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and the Atlanta Field Office of the FBI, worked to identify the victim child, who had been given a specific name by the perpetrator of the abuse."

This case was investigated by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Richmond, Virginia, the Innocent Images Unit at FBI Headquarters and the Safe Child Task Force at FBI's Atlanta Division with key investigative assistance from the Internet Crimes Against Children unit of the Maine State Police, and the United States Postal Inspection Service. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), Catoosa County Sheriff’s Office, Fort Oglethorpe Police Department and the Walker County Sheriff’s Office, along with input and assistance from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), have also provided assistance.

Assistant United States Attorneys Francey Hakes and Corey Steinberg are prosecuting the case.

This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the Attorney General launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorney's Offices around the country, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, go to projectsafechildhood.gov.

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