GBI charge 2 men in separate sexual exploitation of children cases

ATLANTA - The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said they arrested two people in two separate cases of sexual exploitation of children last week.

Joseph Ruben William Wade Thomas, 29, of Cherokee County, was charged last Friday with one count of sexual exploitation of children, two counts of aggravated child molestation, and two counts of sodomy.

Investigators said Thomas is accused of "hands-on sexual abuse against children." A search warrant of his home was executed on Friday.

Thomas was already in the Cobb County Jail on charges filed by the Cobb County Police Department in April for child molestation and enticing a child. He remains in jail without bond.

Johnny Jay Farino, 65, of Covington, was arrested last Wednesday after agents executed a search warrant on his Newton County home. Investigators said they found child pornography on his electronic devices.

Farino was booked in the Newton County Jail.

Both cases began as tips to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The GBI’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes is the lead in both investigations.

Anyone with information on these or any other crimes against children are asked to call the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit at 404-270-8870. Tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS(8477).