GBI agents testify that Columbus men had videos of children performing sex acts

Two Columbus men arrested for possessing photos and videos of child sexual abuse made their first court appearances.

Kevin Perry, 38, and Christopher Hovey, 32, appeared virtually in Muscogee County Municipal Court Wednesday morning after being arrested and charged last week.

Perry, who faces two charges of sexual exploitation of children, appeared first.

GBI agent Kristen Aller testified she received a tip regarding child sexual abuse material stored in a Google account that allegedly belongs to Perry.

The three videos on the account showed multiple sexual acts, including those involving two boys and an animal, Aller said.

When law enforcement conducted a search warrant at his home, Perry confirmed that a cell phone number and email addresses tied to the Google account belonged to him, Aller said.

Investigators found additional child sexual abuse material on a laptop in Perry’s possession during the search. Perry told law enforcement that he had never seen the material before. He later said he got the videos from a Telegram social media account or another social media app, Aller said.

Hovey, who faces six charges of possessing or controlling any material depicting a minor in sexually explicit conduct, appeared in court roughly half an hour after Perry.

GBI agent Jackie Gittins testified she received a tip regarding a Kik instant messaging account that uploaded 34 images and videos of child sexual abuse. Personal information tied to the account led investigators to Hovey.

While conducting a search warrant, investigators found child sexual abuse on a Motorola cell phone in Hovey’s possession. A majority of the material involved an unidentified adult male and children, Gittins said. According to Muscogee County court records, Hovey pleaded guilty to child molestation in 2007.

Judge Richard Flowers set Hovey’s bond at $6,000 and Perry’s bond at $5,000.

The cases were bound over to Superior Court.

Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified the judge. The current version has been updated to reflect that the presiding judge was actually Judge Richard Flowers.

This story was originally published September 7, 2022 at 12:55 PM.

Nick Wooten

Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

Nick Wooten is the Accountability/Investigative reporter for the Ledger-Enquirer where he is responsible for covering several topics, including Georgia politics. His work may also appear in the Macon Telegraph. Nick was given the Georgia Press Association’s 2021 Emerging Journalist award for his coverage of elections, COVID-19 and Columbus’ LGBTQ+ community. Before joining McClatchy, he worked for The (Shreveport La.) Times covering city government and investigations. He is a graduate of Mercer University in Macon, Georgia.