2 indicted on child porn charges: Tazewell men arrested in separate, unrelated cases totaling 67 counts

Mar. 24—TAZEWELL, Va. — Two Tazewell County men have been indicted on multiple child pornography charges in separate and unrelated cases, officials said Tuesday.

Travis Jackson, 30, of the Richlands, Va., area was arrested on 57 counts of possession of child pornography and one count of distribution of child pornography, Lt. Mike Hall, with the Tazewell County Sheriff's Office, said.

Christopher Everett, 20, of Richlands, was indicted on 10 counts of possession of child pornography, Hall said.

Hall said the crimes of both men occurred in the latter part of 2019 and early 2020. The images and videos were found on the men's cellphones.

"They were downloading images and videos, but it was not local children," Hall said. "A lot of this comes from overseas."

The men were indicted on March 9.

Hall said law enforcement were tipped off to Jackson via social media and cyber tips.

He said the pornography was found on Jackson's cellphone, and was primarily videos 30-seconds to one-minute in length.

"It was some of the worst video images that I've seen," Hall said. "It's out there in the cyber world, and they know where to go get it and where to send it."

Hall said he received tips about Everett from a Snapchat report and gmail cyber tip. "We're fortunate that we have mechanisms in place to catch this," he said.

He said Everett had pornographic photos of pubescent and prepubescent children on his phone.

----Hall cautioned parents about online predators, noting, "They're good at what they do."

He advised parents to be aware of the apps children have on their electronic devices.

"See what your kids on spending time on," he said. "Know what apps they are using. If your not familiar with it, research it."

Hall noted that children are very tech savvy, "and they know how to hide stuff on their phone."

And cellphones and computers are not the only potential danger.

Online gaming systems such as Xbox and Playstation also allow children to communicate with individuals from other states and countries, and send videos and photographs.

"Parents and grandparents need to educate themselves on how gaming systems work," Hall said.

"Millions of children spend a number of hours per week gaming," he said. "That gives predators a lot of opportunity."

----Hall said the Tazewell County Sheriff's Office receives a federal grant that allows them to constantly investigate child pornography and child exploitation cases.

He said the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is a non-profit corporation whose mission is to help find missing children, reduce child sexual exploitation and prevent child victimization.

The sheriff's office is also a member of the Southern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children (SOVA-ICAC) Task Force.

Originally known as "Operation Blue Ridge Thunder," the task force began in 1998 and was one of the first 10 such task forces in the United States.

The task force now has more than 150 members, Hall said, and covers an area from far Southwest Virginia to the Delmarva Peninsula on the Eastern Shore and to as far north as Greene County.

Hall said the search for Internet predators is ongoing in Tazewell County.

Detective Scott Stiltner and Detective Travis Hayton assisted with the investigation of Jackson and Everett.

— Contact Samantha Perry at sperry@bdtonline.com