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Multiple Cybertips Lead to Arrest of Suspect Posting Child Pornography Online
On June 9, 2009, the CyberTipline received a complaint from a concerned citizen, who reported that he had been in contact with an adult male making sexually suggestive comments about underage females. During their three-hour chat session, the suspect stated that he “preferred” nine to 15-year-old girls. The reporting person provided the full chat log, along with crucial information about the suspect, including his full name, age, location, and email address.
Through various internet searches, an analyst with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's Exploited Children Division (ECD) located two online profiles for the suspect, as well as a public database record match that helped confirm his identity and generated an address in North Augusta, South Carolina. The analyst immediately notified the South Carolina Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, an OJJDP-funded program, out of the Office of the Attorney General. Investigators with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) quickly initiated an investigation, but did not have enough evidence to file charges at that time.
On November 4, 2010, a registered Electronic Service Provider (ESP) alerted the CyberTipline to a user who had uploaded sexually explicit images of underage females to their service. Based on the provided Internet Protocol (IP) address, the report was forwarded to SLED investigators, who linked it to the initial report. Just one month later, yet another concerned citizen made a report to the CyberTipline regarding an adult male who was posing as a young girl online. She provided several different online aliases used by the suspect, as well other identifying information that an ECD analyst was able to match to the 2009 report. The additional reports were supplied to investigators, who were thrilled and eager to move the case forward.
Representatives from SLED and the Edgefield County Sheriff's office visited the suspect at his residence on August 30, 2011. When questioned as to why he thought they were there, he replied that he had been chatting online with a fourteen-year-old female. Armed with this information, investigators obtained a search warrant and seized the suspect’s computer. Following a forensic examination of the computer, law enforcement arrested the 32-year-old suspect and charged him with five counts of distributing, transporting and exhibiting, receiving, selling, purchasing, exchanging, or soliciting materials that contain a visual representation of minors engaged in sexual activity. If found guilty of the charges, the suspect faces up to ten years in prison and a lifetime of supervised probation.
Through various internet searches, an analyst with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's Exploited Children Division (ECD) located two online profiles for the suspect, as well as a public database record match that helped confirm his identity and generated an address in North Augusta, South Carolina. The analyst immediately notified the South Carolina Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, an OJJDP-funded program, out of the Office of the Attorney General. Investigators with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) quickly initiated an investigation, but did not have enough evidence to file charges at that time.
On November 4, 2010, a registered Electronic Service Provider (ESP) alerted the CyberTipline to a user who had uploaded sexually explicit images of underage females to their service. Based on the provided Internet Protocol (IP) address, the report was forwarded to SLED investigators, who linked it to the initial report. Just one month later, yet another concerned citizen made a report to the CyberTipline regarding an adult male who was posing as a young girl online. She provided several different online aliases used by the suspect, as well other identifying information that an ECD analyst was able to match to the 2009 report. The additional reports were supplied to investigators, who were thrilled and eager to move the case forward.
Representatives from SLED and the Edgefield County Sheriff's office visited the suspect at his residence on August 30, 2011. When questioned as to why he thought they were there, he replied that he had been chatting online with a fourteen-year-old female. Armed with this information, investigators obtained a search warrant and seized the suspect’s computer. Following a forensic examination of the computer, law enforcement arrested the 32-year-old suspect and charged him with five counts of distributing, transporting and exhibiting, receiving, selling, purchasing, exchanging, or soliciting materials that contain a visual representation of minors engaged in sexual activity. If found guilty of the charges, the suspect faces up to ten years in prison and a lifetime of supervised probation.
