Twice Convicted Sex Offender Arrested With Child Sexual Abuse Material | USAO-SDIN

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INDIANAPOLIS — A Crawfordsville man was arrested on Tuesday on criminal charges related to his alleged possession of child sexual abuse material.

According to court documents, an investigation into Christopher Gene Beke, Sr., 43, began with a report from Google LLC, after the company determined that a Google user uploaded sexually explicit images of minors to servers from Google in 2021. The Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force received these reports and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office identified the Google user as Beke, Sr., who had a previous conviction. for pedophilia and possession of child pornography. While executing a search warrant and with the assistance of “Hunter”, the IMPD’s electronic detection K-9, Beke was found in possession of devices containing sexually explicit images of minors. Beke admitted to police that his phone would contain illegal images.

“This case is a prime example of how a giant international company like Google can use technology to detect child sexual abuse images stored online and then quickly get that information into the hands of law enforcement. local authorities,” U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Myers said. “Using these internationally generated leads, our ICAC task force can put local boots on the ground to stop people who traffic in sexually explicit images of children. And a special thanks for the incredible work of our law enforcement partners in Montgomery County.

“Detective French and Detective Kirby have worked tirelessly on these cases, and we are grateful for our partnerships with the ICAC task force,” said Montgomery County Sheriff Ryan Needham. “We will continue to dedicate all of our resources to these types of crimes and work with our partners to ensure that we are doing our part to keep children safe.”

Beke, Sr. is charged with possession of a visual representation of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct (with a prior conviction). The accused made his first court appearance today, before U.S. District Court Judge Doris L. Pryor of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana and was taken into custody pending trial. his trial. If convicted, Beke, Sr. faces a minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering US sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the case. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, the Indiana State Police, the Crawfordsville Police Department, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office (including the County Sex Offender Registrar), and the Office from the Montgomery County District Attorney also provided invaluable assistance.

US Attorney Myers thanked Assistant US Attorney Kristina Korobov who is pursuing the case.

This investigation was conducted by the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, a partnership of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies led by the Indiana State Police. The task force is dedicated to investigating and prosecuting crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children facilitated by technology and the trafficking of child sexual exploitation materials. Each year, Indiana’s ICAC investigators evaluate thousands of boards, investigate hundreds of cases, and rescue dozens of children from ongoing sexual abuse. In fiscal year 2019, Indiana’s Southern District was second out of the nation’s 94 federal districts in the number of child sexual exploitation cases prosecuted.

Additionally, this case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a national initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood brings together federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and save the victims. For more information on the Safe Childhood Project, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

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