Barrow County Firefighter Facing Child Porn Charges Fired

UPDATE: According to recent booking information provided by the Barrow County Detention Center, Willie Stancil Etheridge, 37, has been charged with 29 counts of sexual exploitation of children. 

A Barrow County firefighter has been fired after he was arrested Thursday, Dec. 6, and now faces charges of sexual exploitation of children and obscene Internet contact with a child, according to a report by the Barrow Journal. 

According to the Barrow County Sheriff's Office booking information, Willie Stancil Etheridge, 37, of 813 Lodgeview Drive in Winder, was arrested Dec. 6. He has been charged with 10 counts of sexual exploitation of children and one count of obscene Internet contact with a child. 

The Barrow Journal reports Etheridge was a nine-year veteran of Barrow County Emergency Services and Chief Dennis Merrifield confirmed his employment was terminated following his arrest. Sheriff Jud Smith told the Barrow Journal that GBI agents who regularly monitor child-porn websites assisted in the investigation.

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