8 men, 1 minor charged with child sexual exploitation in Williamson County within 5 months

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — So far in 2024, the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office has made substantial progress in combating sexual exploitation of children, thanks to Detective Paul Lusk’s hard work as part of the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.

Since mid-February, authorities said their efforts led to the arrest of seven Williamson County residents as well as two individuals from outside Tennessee. All of those arrests were for crimes involving child sexual exploitation.

The sheriff’s office said that it would always prioritize protecting children, using advanced technology and investigative techniques to identify and apprehend those who “exploit our most vulnerable population.”

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

According to officials, the following seven people have been arrested in Williamson County this year:

• Feb. 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 involving more than 100 images.
• Feb. 20: Trace Duncan, 24, of College Grove, was charged with solicitation of a minor to commit aggravated sexual exploitation, three counts of solicitation to commit statutory rape, 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 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 four counts of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor and three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.

The sheriff’s office’s ICAC Task Force also worked with global affiliates to target people preying on Williamson County children. As of publication, two additional people were arrested. One was in another state and the other was in another country, authorities said:

• April 25: Tyler Clark, 38, of Medicine Hat, Canada, was charged with luring a child under 16 years old, possession of child pornography, and distributing sexually explicit material to a minor for 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 for sexual activity, and two counts of solicitation to commit statutory rape 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 preying on our youth are stopped and ultimately brought to justice,” officials said in a statement released on Thursday, July 18 .

If you have any questions or concerns about the cases listed above, you are asked to contact Lusk at Paul.Lusk@Williamsoncounty-tn.gov .

If you have a tip related to online child sexual exploitation, authorities urge you to share that information online via the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children CyberTipline .

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