HOWELL, Mich. – A Howell man accused of soliciting pornographic images and videos from young girls and sharing them with another person has been arrested.
Greg Francis Gaither was arrested on Thursday, March 2, and is expected to face charges of receipt and distribution of child pornography and possession of child pornography, according to court documents.
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Pennsylvania arrest leads FBI to Howell man
The FBI executed a search warrant on Dec. 13, 2022, at the Pennsylvania home of a man only referred to as “Individual A”.
According to court documents, Individual A told the FBI he used a variety of smartphone apps to coerce underage girls to engage in sexual activity and send explicit images and videos. He distributed and received child pornography with others using Telegram and other smartphone apps.
During the interview, the FBI said Individual A told them he was talking to someone he knew as “Austin”. The FBI said they have evidence indicating “Austin” is actually Gaither. The two men spoke almost every day via text and voice calls.
Individual A told investigators that he knew “Austin” worked for DoorDash and was from Michigan.
Text messages start in July 2021
The FBI said they found a text message thread between Individual A and “Austin” that began on July 31, 2021, and continued until Dec. 14, 2022. The two “consistently” spoke about their work for DoorDash and their attempts to produce child pornography.
According to court documents, “Austin” sent the following message on June 25, 2022: “That girl’s getting ready to do stuff for me I think I sent one on telegram already.” The FBI said that message indicates “Austin” believes a child is about to produce pornography due to his coercion.
There were at least two instances when child pornography was distributed between Individual A and “Austin”, according to the FBI. On July 6, 2022, Individual A sent five images to “Austin”. All of the images were of girls between the ages of 10 and 13.
On July 22, 2022, “Austin” sent a message saying that he just got back from a hospital with chest pains and shortness of breath. He then sent a message to Individual A with explicit images of a young girl.
Search warrant executed in Howell
The FBI connected “Austin” to Greg Francis Gaither, who lived on Booth Street in Howell, Michigan.
A search warrant was authorized and executed on March 2, 2023. According to court documents, the lights in the house were turned off as soon as the FBI approached the door.
An agent knocked on the door at 6:05 a.m. and then made entry into the home. They called out to Gaither but did not receive a response.
An FBI agent called Gaither’s phone, the one linked to “Austin”, beginning at 6:09 a.m. and he picked up on the third call. The FBI agent said he tried to get Gaither to come out of the home for five minutes, but he would not come out, show himself or speak. He could hear other agents in the home speaking through the phone.
The agent called 13 more times and Gaither finally stepped out into the living room and showed himself to the agents. The phone that the agent had called was found with Gaither when he was detained and appeared to have been factory reset.