Gibsonville man arrested in child exploitation case after two-year probe

A cyber tip that landed with the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office on July 3, 2024, grew into a nearly two-year child-exploitation investigation that ended with a search warrant on West Steele Street in Gibsonville and the arrest of Donavan Levar Summers, 28. Deputies said Summers was taken into custody on May 12 and is now being held at the Guilford County Detention Center in Greensboro under a $5 million secured bond.

Investigators said the case did not stop with the first referral. During the probe, detectives received two additional CyberTips before moving in on the Gibsonville home. Summers was charged with three counts of felony third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, a Class H felony in North Carolina. State law defines that offense as possessing material that contains a visual representation of a minor engaging in sexual activity.

The size and length of the investigation reflect how these cases often unfold locally: digital tips arrive first, then detectives work through records, devices, and follow-up leads before a warrant is served. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says its CyberTipline is the nation’s centralized reporting system for online child exploitation, and it received 20.5 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation in 2024. In this case, the sheriff’s office said the tips from NCMEC set the investigation in motion.

The case also carries added weight because the sheriff’s office said Summers was already actively on the Guilford County Sex Offender Registry when investigators moved in. North Carolina’s registry is maintained by the State Bureau of Investigation, and state law says the program exists to help law enforcement protect communities by requiring offenders to register and share relevant information. That makes the new allegations especially serious for a county already watching how well repeat offenders are tracked and monitored.

Summers is due in court on July 16. The sheriff’s office said anyone with information should contact Detective Z. Cabral or Guilford County Crime Stoppers. For now, the case stands as a major felony prosecution built from a cyber tip, a series of digital leads, and a search at a Gibsonville address.