Michael William Cook, 17, of Acworth, was arrested on eight counts of
cruelty to children and one count of sexually exploiting children.
Cobb County Police Sgt.
Dana Pierce said Cook was arrested Wednesday at Harrison High School.
He is accused of posting photos of his victims to a child pornography
website between November 2012 and January 2013.
Sgt. Pierce said Cook hacked into the victims cell phones by sending
text messages to his victims from a company called "Maxi Focus
Photography". When the victims responded to the texts it installed
malware on their phone. Pierce said it essentially gave Cook access to
all the information on their phones.
Sgt. Pierce said the sexually explicit photos were on the victim's
phones. "He took the pictures out of there and sent them to pornographic
web sites," he said.
Police served a search warrant at Cook's Acworth home and took his
computer. They are looking for more photos on his computer and more
victims.
Anyone who has corresponded with that company is asked to call the
Cobb County Police Department's Crimes Against Children Unit at
770-801-3470.