Arrests 127 arrests and 16 children saved throughout Arizona
Case highlights for 2011
In January 2011, a teen female high school student in Scottsdale, AZ contacted school officials and police when a 25 year old Scottsdale man stalked and followed the girl to her school and onto the school campus. She became frightened not thinking this would happen or he would go to this extent, and made the contacts. AZICAC and Scottsdale Police arrested the man at the school which is when he said he had met the girl online which led to him and the victim having an online and phone relationship. He said he wanted to meet her in person. Apparently, the suspect and victim had exchanged pornographic images because she had them on her person and provided the evidence to police. The unemployed Scottsdale man was booked into Madison Street Jail and charged with luring a minor for sexual exploitation and furnishing harmful items to a minor via the Internet. This matter is being handled by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.
In February 2011, an AZICAC Phoenix Police investigator conducted a proactive Internet investigation which led to the arrest of a 21 year old Goodyear, AZ resident who was using the Internet to search for, trade and download images depicting the sexual exploitation of minors. The investigator authored a search warrant for the suspect’s residence after court orders had identified the residence and after entry, discovered the suspect as to being the roommate of the Internet subscriber. The suspect made admissions to collecting the illegal images and using common search terms to find and download the images and videos from the Internet. The 21 year old man worked as a teacher’s aide at an elementary school and also worked as a private home healthcare provider for autistic children as his second job. He was booked on several counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and the case is being handled by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.
In late March 2011, AZICAC investigators conducted a proactive search on the Internet and discovered a large amount of images and videos depicting the sexual exploitation of minors being stored and distributed from a Peoria residence. AZICAC detectives executed a search warrant at his residence and after hours of interviews and forensic searching, they discovered that the 40 year old Petsmart dog groomer had over 1200 illegal images downloaded onto a hard drive found in the family mini van. The suspect had a 9 year old and a 10 year old daughter and admitted his sexual preference was that of 10-12 year old children. The suspect denied molesting his daughters and agreed to take a polygraph. The results were inconclusive. The children were interviewed but didn’t disclose any wrongdoings, however, forensic examinations of the suspect’s media revealed over 250 images either sexually exploiting the daughters or posing in erotic poses. The suspect was eventually charged with 20 counts sexual exploitation of a minor. Prosecution is being handled by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.
In late April 2011, a 51 year old Chandler resident who was a church minister in Phoenix, committed suicide in his church as Chandler Police Special Assignment Officers were executing a search warrant at the church to arrest him on furnishing harmful items to a minor via the Internet and luring a minor for sexual exploitation. AZICAC investigators from the Chandler Police Department had conducted a proactive investigation which stemmed back to 2010 when the minister contacted an undercover investigator online with the belief he was corresponding with a minor. The suspect exposed his genitals to the perceived minor via the Internet and asked to meet the perceived minor several times for the purpose of committing sex acts against the minor persona. The suspect had shown the investigator firearms that he owned while chatting with him and the investigator was concerned for everyone’s safety and he had made statements indicating mental instability which is why Special Assignment Officers were called to execute the warrant and arrest. The suspect had even changed his screen name two weeks prior to the date of the warrant citing he was trying to hide from police..
In June 2011, a 43 year old man, who is a registered sex offender for child molestation, working at Dunkin Doughnuts, was arrested by AZICAC Task Force investigators and Phoenix Police Officers for violating his probation and failure to abide to his sex offender terms. The suspect had accessed the store’s computer and printed out several pictures depicting the sexual exploitation of minors. These images depicted children being tied up and posed in sexually exploitive positions. Fellow employees viewed the images and called police. An AZICAC investigator from the Phoenix Police Department was called to the central Phoenix business location and interviewed the suspect. The suspect was found to be possessing hundreds of such images and admitted that he was “out of control” and had been around children that he should not have been around. He also said he was sexually attracted to children’s feet and toe nails and has gone so far as to having a jar in his apartment containing children’s toe nail clippings. The suspect was booked for the above violations and after obtaining a search warrant, the AZICAC investigator seized the images, the suspect’s computer and thumb drive as evidence. Further forensics is pending and more charges will be requested after evidence is discovered on his computers. He is being held in the Maricopa County Jail and is facing at least 8 years in prison for the probation violation alone. The Maricopa County Attorney’s office is handling prosecution on this matter.
In July 2011, AZICAC, Phoenix Police, F.B.I. and the Mesa Police Department worked jointly to arrest two Phoenix men for child molestation, manufacturing images depicting the sexual exploitation of minors and sexual exploitation of a minor. The case was initiated by a Phoenix F.B.I. Special Agent after a proactive Internet file sharing investigation led to identity of the two suspects who were living together in a Mesa, Arizona residence. Investigators obtained information indicating the two boys depicted in the images and videos being sexually abused were related to one of the suspects. At this point, the agencies involved got together and put together an operations plan to execute search warrants and arrest the suspects at a Phoenix residence where they were believed to be living currently with the molestations occurring in Mesa. After an extensive surveillance involving numerous investigators, a 38 year old Hispanic male suspect was arrested at his place of employment which was a fast food restaurant in Phoenix, and a 47 year old white male suspect was arrested at a Mesa residence where he was temporarily residing. The two boy victims in the images were identified by their mother proving that they were relatives of the 47 year old suspect. Search warrants were executed and computer evidence along with other case evidence was seized. As of December 5, 2011, the 47 year old suspect has pled to charges falling under the Dangerous Crimes Against Children enhancement statutes and is awaiting minimum 25 years in prison. The 38 year old suspect is being held in Maricopa County Jail awaiting court proceedings. The Maricopa County Attorneys Office is handling prosecution of both suspects.
In August 2011, an AZICAC investigator from the Yavapai County Sheriffs Office was working proactively in Internet chat rooms posing as a 13 year old child, when a 42 year old male suspect contacted the investigator online and began an online relationship. The suspect eventually requested to meet the believed child in Yavapai County for the purpose of taking the child to a different location and performing various sexual acts with the child. The suspect drove from his residence in Lake Havasu City, AZ to the designated meet location in Yavapai County, some three hours drive time away, and deputies from Yavapai County Sheriffs Office arrested the suspect when he arrived. The suspect made admissions and was booked into the Yavapai County Jail, Camp Verde Detention center on luring a minor for sexual exploitation charges. The prosecution is being handled by the Yavapai County Attorneys Office.
In September 2011, a 54 year old local school district bus driver was arrested for aggravated luring a minor for sexual exploitation and luring a minor for sexual exploitation. An AZICAC investigator from the Chandler Police Department was working proactively in online chat rooms, posing as a 13 year old child when the suspect contacted the believed child in June and began an online relationship with the investigators persona for three months. The suspect continually contacted the believed child and the conversations became very sexual. The suspect made arrangements to meet the child for the purpose of having sex and had already exposed himself to the investigator online via his web cam and masturbated. On September 30, 2011, the suspect showed up at the designated meet location to meet the believed child and was arrested by Chandler Police Department officers and investigators. The suspect was booked into Maricopa County Jail and prosecution is being handled by the Maricopa County Attorneys Office.
In November 2011, AZICAC investigators from the Phoenix Police Department and an F.B.I. Special Agent executed a search warrant at a Phoenix area residence as the result of a cybertip that Phoenix Police had received from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. AOL had discovered an e-mail sent by an AIM user on August 2, 2011 with an attached image of a young female being sexually assaulted by an adult male. The lead Phoenix Police investigator conducted a court order process and identified the AIM user who had sent to e-mail to himself via his phone. Upon entry, investigators discovered the residence to be a mess and deplorable conditions for the 15 month old infant living in the house. The suspect was a resident and a 26 year old unemployed drug addict which described others living in and out of the house. The suspect admitted to sending the image via his phone but investigators were unable to find it during initial preview. He did not know the identity of the victim. The baby was extremely malnourished, there was no food in the house, nothing had been cleaned, trashed was piled, etc. Because of this, a child neglect investigation was initiated and C.P.S. contacted to take custody of the child, monitor the child for a month and if need be, charge the mother with child neglect.
In December 2011, AZICAC investigators from the Phoenix Police Department traveled to Little Rock, AR and worked in conjunction with the Arkansas State Police with the arrest of a 57 year old high school principle and the execution of a search warrant at his residence. This was the result of an online proactive investigation conducted by a Phoenix Police investigator who was posing online in chat rooms as a 14 year old child living here in Phoenix. The suspect initiated conversation with the investigator, believing he was a 14 year old child, and began an online private relationship. The suspect discussed having sexual acts with the believed minor and exposed his genitals via his personal web cam. The suspect masturbated to the believed child and this was all captured as evidence. The investigator began research and court orders to identify the suspect and discovered he was the 57 year old high school teacher. Due to the fact that he is around minors daily and the possibility of other live minor victims, investigators acted swiftly. On December 8, 2011, Phoenix Police investigators and Arkansas State Police arrested the suspect as he was preparing to leave his house to go to work at his school. The suspect made admissions to the investigators and was booked in Monticello, AR on one count sexual indecency with a child. Phoenix Police investigators seized computer evidence with the help of Arkansas’ search warrant and have submitted the case to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office requesting a Grand Jury hearing against the suspect and hopeful indictment after forensics are completed. If indicted, the Maricopa County Attorneys Office will request extradition of the suspect from Arkansas to Maricopa County Jail where he will await trial on furnishing harmful items to a minor via the Internet which is a class 4 felony.