Kids Have a New Computer? Protect Them with this Free Software

The Paulding County Sheriff’s Office is offering free software to help protect children using their home computers.

The Paulding County Sheriff’s Office wants to protect the county’s youth who travel along a major highway—the information superhighway. The PCSO and Sheriff Gary Gulledge are giving away copies of a computer monitoring program known as ComputerCOP at the PCSO’s Crimes Against Children office, 1387 Industrial Blvd. in Dallas. The software’s goal is to inform parents every time their children encounters something online about sex, drugs, crime and cyber bullying. The discs were bought by the Georgia Bureau of Investigations Internet Crimes Against Children unit using federal grant funding and were provided to the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office. The software can be installed on a home computer and used to scan for keywords such as “porn” or…

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Cops for Kids Gets ‘Super’ Donation

Eric Matthews, a former wide receiver for the Super Bowl XXXI Champion Green Bay Packers, made a donation Wednesday to the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office Cops for Kids program.

On Wednesday, former wide receiver for the Super Bowl XXXI Champion Green Bay Packers Eric Matthews donated toys and clothing to the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office Cops For Kids program. Matthews, who is the founder and CEO of E-Matt Athletics, got in contact with Hiram Police Chief Gary Yandura to find out how he could help local underprivileged children this Christmas. Yandura contacted Paulding County Sheriff Gary Gulledge to get Matthews in contact with the Cops For Kids staff at the Sheriff’s Office. By the time the toys and clothing reached the Sheriff’s Office, Lt. Tracy Parker (Cops For Kids) had already found needy children to take the items. Related news: How Can Nonprofits Use Patch? The Paulding County Sheriff’s Office began …

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PCSO: ‘Murder for Hire’ Plot Foiled

Authorities say Melissa Bennett Silvers over the course of two weeks attempted to arrange the murder of her ex-husband. Silvers was arrested Friday.

A daycare teacher from Hiram was arrested Friday after authorities investigated a murder for hire plot. On Friday, detectives with the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division and agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Calhoun Regional Office arrested 48-year-old Melissa Bennett Silvers at Lost Mountain Academy Daycare where she worked as a teacher. Authorities subsequently charged her with conspiracy to commit murder, a felony. According to a PCSO news release, about two weeks ago an undercover agent was contacted by Silvers in reference to a plot to kill her ex-husband. The agent spoke with Silvers on the phone over the course of two weeks discussing the details until she finally met with him in person…

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Children's Foundation of Paulding Donates to Child Advocacy Center

The center collaborates with the Crimes Against Children unit from the Paulding Sheriff's Office along with other child service providers to ensure that children who have been victimized receive the services they need.

Paulding Man Shot in Face After Dispute

The Saturday incident led to the arrest of a Douglasville man.

A Douglasville man faces 10 charges, including aggravated assault and aggravated battery, following a Saturday evening incident that sent a man to the hospital with serious injuries. According to a Paulding County Sheriff’s Office release, about 8:40 p.m. Saturday, deputies went to 225 Trailwood Gap in Douglasville to respond to a call about a domestic dispute where someone had been shot. Authorities say Michael Elliot Cash was involved in some type of dispute with a female when the 33-year-old Richard Crankshaw tried to intervene. Crankshaw and Cash then began to fight. During the struggle, Crankshaw was subsequently shot in the face by Cash with a handgun. Crankshaw was later flown to an Atlanta area hospital with apparent serious …

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Fundraiser Aimed at Helping Mitch Comer

Organizers are seeking more donors and vendors for the Nov. 10 event that will help support the 18-year-old Comer, who last month was found malnourished in a Los Angeles bus station.

The Paulding County 18-year-old at the center of a case involving years of alleged abuse will be the recipient of funds raised by an event next month. A community fundraising event set for Saturday, Nov. 10, will support “The Mitch Overcomer Fund,” named after Mitch Comer, who on Sept. 11 was found by authorities in a Greyhound bus station in Los Angeles. At the time, the 18-year-old, whom authorities said appeared to only be 12 or 13, weighed only 87 pounds and was just over 5 feet tall. Comer told authorities that his stepfather, Paul Comer, had given him $200 and a list of homeless shelters, then put him on a bus in Jackson, Miss. But the teen said his abuse spanned years and included confinement to his room and meals consisting of only…

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Comers Indicted, Facing Felony Charges

The parents of the Dallas teen who last month had been found malnourished in a Los Angeles bus station each face 10 charges in the wake of a weeks-long investigation, according to published reports.

A grand jury on Tuesday indicted the parents of a Dallas teenager who had been found in Los Angeles last month, malnourished and underweight, after he was allegedly put on a bus with $200 and a list of homeless shelters. The Associated Press reported that 18-year-old Mitch Comer’s stepfather, Paul Comer, and mother, Sheila Comer, were charged Tuesday with seven counts of cruelty to children, two counts of false imprisonment and one count of kidnapping. The indictment alleges the two caused the teen physical and mental harm by depriving him of food, confining him in a room, punching him in the jaw and kicking him in the groin, among other forms of abuse. Authorities found Mitch Comer Sept. 11 in a Greyhound bus station in Los Angeles. The …

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Thefts, Burglaries Reported

Our streamlined version of local crime news includes incident listings from the Paulding County Sheriff's Office provided to Dallas-Hiram Patch on Monday.

The attached report of recent crime incidents was provided by the Paulding County Sheriff's Office. Dallas-Hiram Patch assumes the report is error free and apologizes in advance for any incorrect information.

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Man Charged with Molesting Children

Authorities said Dakota James McNeil likely molested the two girls for several years.

A Paulding County man is accused of molesting two juvenile girls over the last several years. According to a news release from the Paulding County Sheriff's Office, Dakota James McNeil, 23, is charged with two counts of aggravated child molestation and one count of aggravated sodomy. Authorities said the alleged crimes were discovered after Paulding County Sheriff's Office deputies responded to a report of sexual abuse at a residence on Mona Place. Investigators discovered that one of the children had been molested from the ages of 5-13. McNeil may have molested other victims, the news release stated. Anyone with information regarding McNeil is asked to call the sheriff's office's Crimes Against Children detectives at 770-445-6105.

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