According to police officials, 38-year-old Austin Mullis was arrested by Perry officers this week after a search of his phone uncovered child pornography.
PERRY, Georgia — A Houston County man accused of having child pornography on his phone while working at the Georgia National Fair was indicted earlier this year, according to court records, on attempted child molestation and other sex crime charges.
The Perry Police Department says Austin Mullis, 38, of Elko, was arrested on Thursday after a court-authorized search of his cellphone. The arrest happened two days after Mullis was confronted by a group of vigilante child predator hunters while working for a vendor at the Georgia National Fair, according to Major Heath Dykes.
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Dykes says the group, known to make fake accounts of children to catch child predators, chased Millis around the fairgrounds before officers intervened.
All five people involved — Mullis and the four people who confronted him — were banned from the Georgia National Fairgrounds, according to the department.Prior to Thursday’s arrest, 13WMAZ uncovered through court records that Mullis was indicted in May for attempted child molestation and other sex crime charges in Gwinnett County.
According to the arrest warrants, between Jan. 1 and Jan. 25, 2025, Mullis allegedly engaged in sexual explicit discussion with a girl prosecutors say he believed was 14 year old. The warrants allege he engaged in graphic discussion about potential sexual activity, asked for sexually explicit photos and sent an explicit photo of himself.
According to Houston County District Attorney Eric Edwards, Mullis bonded out of jail in Gwinnett County in April 2025 and the case remains open.
However, the arrest of Mullis has raised questions about hiring by Georgia National Fair vendors. In a statement, Georgia National Fair spokesperson Addie Hodges told 13WMAZ the fair’s statement is the same as the Perry Police Department, emphasizing he was not directly employed by the Georgia National Fair.
“The individual was hired through an independent food vendor company, and the Georgia National Fairgrounds & Agricenter was not involved in the hiring process,” Hodges wrote.
13WMAZ asked the Georgia National Fair for information on hiring policies for outside vendors operating at the fair, and we are still working to get a response.
The Perry Police Department says it does not support the conduct of the vigilante group, noting they did not contact law enforcement prior to engaging with Mullis at the fair.
“That’s just not safe,” Dykes said.
The department said the charges filed by police did not stem directly from the group’s confrontation, but instead the contents of Mullis’ device.
Mullis is being held without bond in the Houston County Jail on a charge of computer pornography/child exploitation.
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