Update published Saturday, Aug. 10:
According to Hall County Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer Derreck Booth, Hall County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Blake Lawrence Edwards without incident on Friday at his residence.
He was booked into the Hall County Jail without bond.
Edwards' lawyer, Blake Poole, contacted AccessWDUN Saturday morning, saying Edwards was not on the run as law enforcement suggested.
"I told (Hall County Sheriff's Office Investigator) Jerry Phillips months ago that he would turn himself in if there were outstanding warrants," Poole said. "Phillips refused to tell me and instead has apparently resorted to wasting tax payer money and the Sheriff’s resources."
Original story published Friday, Aug. 9:
A Hall County man wanted on over 100 child exploitation charges by the Hall County Sheriff’s Office remains at large.
Blake Lawrence Edwards, 32, is wanted on 108 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. Two of the charges were for publishing two videos of Child Sexual Abuse Material across a peer-to-peer file sharing platform, while 106 were for possession of videos of CSAM on two external hard drives at his residence on Walnut Grove Way in the northern part of the county.
Investigators began looking into Edwards’ online activity in March when he allegedly shared the two CSAM videos. Investigators executed search warrants on his home on May 14, where they reportedly seized several electronics, including the two hard drives where the videos were discovered. Edwards was not home at the time the warrants were executed.
HCSO investigators continue to search for Edwards as additional charges are possibly pending following continued forensic processing of his devices.
Edwards was described as a white male with blue eyes. He is 5’7’’ tall. He is also known to have ties to Jacksonville, Florida.
Anyone who has information on Edwards’ whereabouts may call Hall County Dispatch at 770-536-8812.
