FBI Cyber
Division Assistant Director Jana Monroe today announced the arrest
of one man and the location of another man charged
with the production of child pornography, a violation of Title 18,
United States Code, Section 2251. The arrests were made as a direct
result of the FBI’s coordination with the television program “America’s
Most Wanted: America Fights Back,” (AMW) hosted by John Walsh.
At the time of the airing
on AMW, both men’s identities were
unknown. Their images had been collected during an investigation of
alleged child pornography. As a result of this FBI investigation, both
men were indicted by a Federal Grand Jury in Baltimore, Maryland. The
Grand Jury returned one-count indictments against each man for the
production of child pornography. At the time of these indictments,
the men were only identified as “John Doe” and “John
Doe Jared”.
On February 21,
2004, “John Doe Jared” aired on AMW and
was identified as a man held in state custody at the Indiana State
Prison, Michigan City, Indiana. The man is serving an unrelated thirty-year
state sentence for sexual molestation of children. On February 28,
2004, “John Doe” aired on AMW and was identified. The man
was arrested by Deputies of the Missoula County, Montana Sheriff’s
Department, in a grocery store parking lot. Based upon subsequent investigation,
it is alleged that “John Doe Jared” is Scott Hayden and “John
Doe” is Thomas Richard Evered.
U.S. Attorney General John
Ashcroft said, “Targeting sexual
predators is a priority for the Justice Department, and these cases
demonstrate that the government can make a difference in combating
child pornography and exploitation in America, “ AG Ashcroft
continued, “The FBI, in collaboration with other federal, state
and local law enforcement and the media, used an innovative and aggressive
approach that helped us identify and apprehend men charged to be dangerous
sexual predators.”
Assistant Director Monroe
said, “This is a shining example
of how law enforcement investigations should work -- a collaborative
effort involving multiple law enforcement agencies together with a
diligent and alert public.”
This investigation
was supervised and coordinated by the Innocent Images Task Force
of the FBI Baltimore Field Office. Since its inception
in 1995, the Innocent Images Task Force, which specializes in investigating
Child Pornography, has initiated 10,509 investigations. As a result
3,015 persons have been arrested and charged with offenses involving
child pornography. Many of these persons were charged with
using the internet to lure or entice a child for sexual purposes. Of
particular significance in these cases was that for the first time,
the Innocent Images Program obtained “John
Doe” arrest warrants based solely on images acquired through
undercover investigations. Once the defendants were identified, law
enforcement response was effected in a timely manner.
Recently, the Innocent
Images Task Force began a new, aggressive approach to identify unknown
individuals involved in the production
of Child Pornography and actual sexual abuse of children. The “Endangered
Child Alert Program” will provide national and international
exposure of unknown adult persons captured on visual depictions involved
in child pornography. The unknown person’s face will be displayed
on the FBI’s Fugitive website and eventually broadcast on AMW.
It is believed that national and international exposure will lead to
rapid identifications and arrests of persons involved in child pornography
and sexual abuse of minors. This new program and method is intended
to aggressively pursue and thwart individuals who would abuse or harm
our nation’s children.
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