July 7, 2010
If you find child pornography, please report it to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) Cybertipline at www.cybertipline.com. Here is just one of their recent successes:
Children Rescued from Ongoing Sexual Abuse at Hands of Trusted Family Member
On September 23, 2009, the CyberTipline received a report, a registered Electronic Service Provider (ESP), regarding a user who had reportedly uploaded graphic sexual images of children to their service. In compliance with federal law, the ESP provided incident information, including an e-mail address, screen name, and Internet Protocol (IP) address associated with the suspect.
An Exploited Children Division (ECD) analyst conducted a series of Internet searches in the hopes of determining a possible location for the reported suspect. She was able to locate an online profile that listed a location of Maryland. Based on this information, she forwarded the report to the Maryland Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, an OJJDP- funded program, out of the Maryland State Police, for investigation.
An investigation by the Maryland ICAC revealed that the reported email account belonged to an adult male from Hampstead, Maryland. On March 10, 2010, Maryland State Troopers conducted a knock-and-talk at the suspect’s home. Not only did the suspect admit to downloading the images found in the CyberTipline report, but he also handed investigators printed photos of prepubescent males engaged in sexual activity that he had collected. He further turned over two CDs, which, when previewed by investigators, contained additional images of child pornography. When investigators advised the suspect that the residence was seized pending the issuance of a Search and Seizure Warrant, the suspect told them that he had attempted suicide in the past and believed he should do it now. He was immediately placed into protective custody and transported to the local hospital.
During their search of the suspect’s bedroom, Maryland ICAC personnel located a metal box found to contain five pairs of boys underwear. Investigators were alarmed, as they were aware that the suspect has access to several minor nieces and nephews. At this point, Carroll County Child Advocacy Center (CAC) investigators were called to the scene to interview the children’s mother. The next day, the ICAC learned that three of the suspect’s nephews had disclosed long-term sexual abuse by the suspect, dating back four to six years and continuing up to the time the suspect was apprehended. During a subsequent interview with Computer Crimes investigators, the suspect confessed to the sexual molestation of his nephews, along with at least four other boys. He also informed investigators that he had abused other children while on vacation camping and that during these trips, he would convince the children to perform sexual acts and take photographs of the abuse.
After the interview, the suspect was charged with 10 counts of possession of child pornography and 10 counts of distribution of child pornography. These charges will be amended as further evidence is gathered by forensic examiners. In addition, the CAC will be pursuing sexual abuse charges in the near future. In the meantime, the suspect is being held without bond.
June 23, 2010
Fresno Regional Foundation has done it again! They’re moving forward to support local law enforcement in the Fresno area rescue more kids from abuse. This time the Foundation has pledged over $9,600 to purchase two mobile forensic units to allow Fresno Parole agents to check paroled sex offender computers for child sexual abuse images. With this support Fresno Parole will be able to do the job they are tasked to do, and eager to do, but haven’t received the funding for. Thank you so much Fresno Regional Foundation!!
May 18, 2010
Yesterday representatives from the Michael Bolton Charities, Inc. and J. Walton Bissell Foundation took a tour of the New Britain Police Department forensic lab and saw the Cellebrite Physical Pro extraction device and the Secure View cell phone forensic device in action. Both charities donated $2,500 each last year to the Innocent Justice Foundation for New Britain which was then used to purchase upgrades to the tools so they can keep up to date with evolving cell phones and technology in the field. These upgrades are vital to helping the team rescue children who are trapped in a nightmare of sexual abuse in our own neighborhoods.
With reporters in tow, the police also gave onlookers a short peek at the sheer overwhelming volume of child predators locally who are trading images of children being molested via peer-to-peer networks.
To read more about the visit in the New Britain Herald, click here. But please don’t stop there. There are law enforcement teams throughout the state of Connecticut who are desperate for access to these basic forensic tools. In three cities in the state, we have donations or pledges that get us half-way towards a device. Won’t you please help Hartford, Naugatuck, Norwalk or Stamford get one of the devices so critical to taking child molesters off the streets? Click here to see what you can do to help.
May 3, 2010
Another officer was killed this morning while working to keep a community safe. He had a 10-year-old son.
It’s time we acknowledged our law enforcement officers, who put their lives on the line day in and day out to keep us safe. They enter into situations where citizens have guns, and suspects may be mentally ill or have taken drugs, putting themselves at risk to make sure other members of the community are not harmed. For their courage, their dedication and their commitment, they deserve our thanks and respect.
We’d like to offer officers working in Internet Crimes additional gratitude for subjecting themselves to images of American children being raped and tortured, working with nearly no resources, in order to try to save our kids and take some of the overwhelming numbers of child sex predators off the streets.
Thank you so much for what you do every day.
From the staff and volunteers of Innocent Justice.
April 29, 2010
In England, the non-profit organization NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) delved into court cases in the UK and discovered that 100 child sex offenders had traded over two million images of children being sexually abused on the Internet. In an interview with Sky News, Diana Sutton of the NSPCC said, “The scale of graphic child sex abuse pictures and videos over the internet is very alarming. The number of images seized in these cases is enough to cover the pitch at Wembley Stadium twice over – and this is just a sample. Children and babies are being seriously sexually assaulted to feed the demand for these photos and videos. And each time they are viewed, more degradation is heaped on the young victims.”
Although more and more of these offenders are being caught, still only less than 1% are ever brought to justice. Suttons says, “The battle is far from won. Offenders are now trying to keep under the radar by using peer-to-peer file-sharing software instead.”
You can help American police track child sex predators trading child sex abuse images on peer-to-peer networks. Click here to support a team.
April 22, 2010
Teel Technologies has provided Ft. Walton Beach Police Department with a SecureView Data Pilot Cell Phone Forensic Tool at a significant discount. Now investigators in Ft. Walton Beach, FL will have the tool they need to help rescue children from abuse and arrest child sex predators by analyzing crucial evidence locked in offender cell phones. Cell phones are used more and more to commit sex crimes against children, and predators often trade images of child sex abuse and torture using cell phones. With this new tool, more local children in Okaloosa County will have the chance of escaping a nightmare of abuse.
Thank you, Teel Technologies for your commitment to helping law enforcement take child molesters off the streets!
March 6, 2010
As Chelsea King is remembered as a beloved daughter of the San Diego community, her grieving and devastated parents have vowed to fight to tighten sex offender laws in the state. Their tortured promises echo so many who have gone before them – Megan’s Law, Jessica’s Law. But how many children must die before we decide that child molestation is unacceptable to us?
We have the tools and the means to stop this now. Child molesters belong in jail after a first offense against a child for the rest of their lives. Treatment, even according to treatment professionals, does not work. Child pornography investigations, which track child sex offenders on the Internet, do work.
Quite simply, we need to increase first-time offense jail sentences to life in prison, and we need to fund our Internet Crimes Against Children task forces in their mission of taking dangerous child sex predators off the streets.
We can catch many of these offenders before they rape, maim, and/or kill again. What are we watiting for?
February 19, 2010
Every day law enforcement officers put their lives on the line to ensure our safety and the safety of our children. Now, we have lost another shining light. Chattahoochee Hills police officer Michael Vogt stopped talk to a group of people by the side of the road and was shot and killed earlier this week. According to Atlanta’s wsbtv.com, a manhunt is underway to find the killer.
Without these brave and courageous officers, we would not enjoy the great American society that most of us take for granted every day. Please join us in offering our condolences to Officer Vogt’s family and the small, 14-officer Chattahoochee Hills Police Department.
January 20, 2010
University of Florida sports broadcaster Steve Babik, 50, has been charged with federal child sexual abuse image possession and distribution. Apparently, the University fired Babik. According to Fanhouse, Babik was the sideline reporter for Gators football games and handled other radio duties. He had been at UF since 1987.
January 7, 2010
Robin Michael Alarcon, 35, a soccer coach at the 4S Ranch-area school in Poway, California (San Diego County), a girls’ lacorsse coach at Mt. Carmel High School, and a girls’ club soccer coach in Rancho Penasquitos was captured after texting one young girl on one of his teams his wish and intent to commit a sexual act with her. He was jailed with bail set at $75,000.
According to San Diego’s 10 News, Alarcon’s arrest was the second in just over a month involving a one-time physical education instructor with Poway Unified School District. On Dec. 4, 2009, former Westview High volunteer wrestling coach Ryan Paul Carnell was jailed on suspicion of molesting an underage female student. Carnell, 28, had pleaded no contest to lewd behavior three months earlier for sending a picture of his genitals to a 16-year-old female student.
We thank San Diego’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force for the amazing work they’ve done in capturing coaches who move into positions of trust in order to prey upon the children they are supposed to care for.
