Former FBI agent disclosed information about child sex task force

Kenneth W. Hillman, III, was the lead FBI agent in charge of the Internet Crime and Child Exploitation Task Force in northwest Georgia. He pleaded guilty this week to disclosing confidential information and could face a year in prison and a fine when sentenced, US Attorney in South Carolina, Beth Drake said Friday in a news release.

The 47-year-old Dalton, Georgia, man was accused of letting two unauthorized people into the FBI’s undercover computer center where agents would engage online with suspected predators and lure them with the promise of sex with children to the local area for arrest.

During a four month period in 2012, the two people, identified only as A.R and E.R., were allowed to watch ongoing operations and even to participate in an undercover operation, “conduct several chats with persons on behalf of the Task Force” and recruit “several individuals who were looking to engage sexually with minor children to the area,” where they were arrested.

Since the agent worked in Georgia and is known by that state's federal prosecutors, the U.S. Attorney's office in South Carolina is handling the case to avoid any appearance of favoritism and to maintain impartiality.

John Monk contributed to this report