8 men and 1 minor charged with sexual exploitation of children in Williamson County, Tennessee within 5 months

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) – Thanks to the hard work of Detective Paul Lusk as part of the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office has made significant progress so far in 2024 in the fight against child sexual exploitation.

Since mid-February, authorities say they have arrested seven Williamson County residents and two out-of-state individuals. All arrests were made for crimes related to the sexual exploitation of children.

The sheriff’s office said protecting children will always be its top priority and that it will use cutting-edge technology and investigative techniques to identify and apprehend those who “prey on our most vulnerable population.”

“The work that Detective Lusk is doing with the ICAC Task Force is commendable. Sexual exploitation of children is abhorrent to me,” said Sheriff Jeff Hughes. “The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office will relentlessly pursue anyone who seeks to commit this crime and we will punish them to the fullest extent of the law – period.”

According to authorities, the following seven people were arrested in Williamson County this year:

• February 15: Atticus Spurlock, 26, of Franklin, was charged with aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor involving more than 25 videos, three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and 26 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor involving more than 100 images.
• February 20: Trace Duncan, 24, of College Grove, was charged with solicitation of a minor for aggravated sexual exploitation, three counts of solicitation of rape of a minor and six counts of exploitation by electronic means.
• April 18: An unnamed 17-year-old from Brentwood was charged with sexual exploitation of a minor.
• May 9: Don Lankford, 49, of Thompson’s Station, was charged with three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and 56 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor involving more than 100 images.
• May 9: Nicholas Mielnik, 41, of Franklin, was charged with two counts of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor.
• May 9: Jason Raciti, 55, of Columbia, was charged with sexual exploitation of a minor involving more than 100 videos.
• June 13: Joshua Adams, 22, of Brentwood, was charged with four counts of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor and three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.

The Sheriff’s Office ICAC Task Force also worked with global partners to target individuals who victimize children in Williamson County. At the time of publication, two more people were arrested. One was in another state and the other in another country, authorities said:

• April 25: Tyler Clark, 38, of Medicine Hat, Canada, was charged with enticement of a child under 16, possession of child pornography and distribution of sexually explicit material to a minor in connection with his online interactions with an 11-year-old girl in Williamson County.
• June 24: Derek Olsen, 35, of Riverside, California, was charged with six counts of exploitation of a minor by electronic means, solicitation of a minor to engage in sexual conduct and two counts of solicitation of the rape of a minor for his online interactions with a 16-year-old girl in Williamson County.

“The WCSO-ICAC Task Force works proactively within the community to ensure that violent sex offenders who prey on our youth are stopped and ultimately brought to justice,” officials said in a statement released Thursday, July 18.

If you have any questions or concerns about the cases listed above, please contact Lusk at [email protected].

If you have any information about child sexual exploitation online, authorities urge you to share that information online through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline.