Former Mercer Law student sentenced for possessing child sexual abuse material
“This conviction is a victory for justice and a warning to those who prey on children—we will find you and you will face the full force of the law,” said Steven N. Schrank, Special Agent in Charge of HSI Atlanta, which covers Georgia and Alabama.
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A former Mercer Law student was sentenced to serve more than six years in prison for possessing more than 10,000 images of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on his cell phone and uploaded on cloud-based storage, according to the United States Attorney’s Office Middle District of Georgia.
37-year-old Gregory Gallagher of Marietta was sentenced to serve 78 months in prison to be followed by 15 years of supervised release and ordered to pay $169,649.12 in restitution to the victims on March 26. Gallagher will be required to register as a sex offender when he’s released from prison. Gallagher previously pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography on April 22, 2024
Acting U.S. Attorney C. Shanelle Booker issued the following statement:
“Children who experience the horror of being sexually abused are continually traumatized each and every time the image or video of the heinous act is viewed. These images are permanent and cause harm well beyond the moment they were originally captured. Our office, working alongside our law enforcement and community partners, will pursue federal prosecution against child predators caught viewing, uploading or sharing child sexual abuse material on the internet.”
Between May and August 2021, the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI) Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force received five Cybertip reports from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) from a cloud infrastructure company of suspected child sexual exploitation associated with a cell phone number.
According to the news release, the cell phone number belonged to Gallagher, who was a Mercer Law School student at the time. Agents conducted a search warrant of the account in January 2022 and found subfolders belonging to Gallagher that contained 38 videos and 1,970 images of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), which is also known as child pornography. Another folder containing files uploaded from Gallagher’s cell phone had two videos and 3,389 images of more CSAM.
On March 29, 2022, agents executed search warrants at Gallagher’s residences in Macon and Marietta. Agents found that Gallagher’s cell phone had 97 videos and 5,749 images of children being sexually assaulted and abused, including very young children and toddlers.
“This conviction is a victory for justice and a warning to those who prey on children—we will find you and you will face the full force of the law,” said Steven N. Schrank, Special Agent in Charge of HSI Atlanta, which covers Georgia and Alabama. “Together, HSI and our law enforcement partners will remain steadfast in our mission to safeguard communities and ensure that those who exploit children are held accountable.”
The news release states that these cases were brought part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. The program was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice and led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. To find out more about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
“Today’s conviction reflects the relentless efforts of law enforcement to protect children from exploitation and hold offenders accountable,” said GBI Director Chris Hosey. “The GBI remains steadfast in its commitment to using all available resources to prevent child abuse and bring justice to the victims of these horrific crimes.”
