By Heather Wells
Idaho Falls Post Register
REXBURG, Idaho — Child pornography charges have never been brought to court in Madison County. That could soon change because police are getting tech savvy.
The Rexburg Police Department has been investigating those who deal in child pornography with the help of software that allows investigators to obtain digital evidence from storage devices in computers by making a mirror image of their hard drives.
The software can locate files that were written over or deleted, helping to stop drug rings, embezzlers and child pornographers.
Currently, Rexburg cops are using the Forensic Tool Kit to investigate two child pornography cases, and they hope to file charges in the near future.
The possession or distribution of child pornography is illegal under federal law and is banned in all 50 states.
“Time is of the essence in these cases,” said Larry Carr, a special agent in the Seattle division of the FBI.
Online crimes are becoming more common. Criminals are using the Internet to commit crimes from a distance. In 2000, the federal Internet Crime Complaint Center was formed to identify cyber crimes.
In 2001, 2,828 complaints were taken. By 2006, 17,291 complaints were filed.
Carr believes the complaint center and new technology helps get criminals off the street before they can commit other crimes.
Without software designed specifically to help solve these crimes, law enforcement has to send computers to an FBI lab, which can take a long time. But when cities have access to these programs, they can collect evidence in-house.
“This is really an area we were lacking in before,” said Lt. Shane Turmin, a detective supervisor with the Rexburg Police Department.
Earlier this year, Turmin applied for a $14,000 federal grant to purchase the tool kit. Then he flew to St. Louis to learn how to use the software.
“I think child pornography is a problem everywhere,” Turmin said. “There are no bounds.”
The Idaho Falls Police Department knows this firsthand.
The IFPD doesn’t use the kit, but it does have access to similar software. Detective Sgt. Jim Hoffman said his department relies on it about once a week.
They’ve been able to break passwords on computers and retrieve files as key evidence in child pornography cases.
“For a lot of (investigations), there’s no replacing the software,” Hoffman said. “It speeds up things greatly.”
Even with Turmin’s extensive police training, he knows that without the help of the tool kit, child pornography crimes would be difficult to solve and prove. The digital evidence that the software unearths creates a stronger case.
And that’s important because the consequences of not catching those engaged in child pornography are severe. Once the pictures reach the World Wide Web, there is no way to get them off, Turmin said. Children’s pictures remain on the Internet for the rest of their lives.
“People trade these pictures like kids trade baseball cards,” Turmin said. “Our goal is to stop and protect these kids from it,” he said.
Did you know?
The Cyber Tipline is a reporting tool where anyone can file claims of child sexual exploitation. It’s been supported by the federal government and corporate donors for more than nine years and has looked into almost 500,000 reported incidents. Reports can be made 24 hours a day, seven days a week online at www.cybertipline.com or by calling (800) 843-5678. The objective is to fight Internet crime against children.
Copyright 2007 The Post Register