8 kids rescued across US after North Carolina cop infiltrates child porn chat group
Two years ago, a detective in North Carolina gained access to a chat group on the messenger app Kik where strangers were exchanging child pornography, according to court filings. The discovery and subsequent investigation reportedly saved eight children from sexually abusive situations.
Now the first person police brought down in the investigation has been sentenced to prison.
Dustin Davis Haynes, 34, will spend more than five years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of transporting child pornography, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of North Carolina said in a news release Wednesday.
Haynes — who lived in Lexington, North Carolina, before his arrest in January — told investigators “that he has been attracted to children since he was approximately 13 years-old,” prosecutors said in court filings.
His case was just the tip of the iceberg for law enforcement.
Cop posed as 14-year-old girl on Kik
The investigation dates back to September 2018, when prosecutors said Detective Jason Reid with the Boone Police Department in Western North Carolina started looking into child exploitation on Kik Messenger.
Otherwise known as Kik, the free app built by a Canadian software company has come under fire for giving potential child predators relative anonymity on the Internet, The New York Times reported in 2016.
According to court filings, Reid posed as a 14-year-old girl to gain access to a public chatroom on the app.
An administrator of the chatroom then asked the detective to “verify” his identity, prosecutors said.
“This is a yung(sic) to very yung(sic) share and chat group,” the person asked. “Will u(sic) be offended if u(sic) see nude young to very young.”
After Reid gained entry to the group, prosecutors said he was invited to other similar chat groups where people “frequently posted images and videos of child pornography.” Haynes was reportedly among them.
The State Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations subsequently executed a search warrant at Haynes’ house, which led to his January arrest on federal child porn charges. Despite multiple requests to be released from jail over COVID-19 concerns, court filings show Haynes has been in custody since his arrest.
Leads sent to other law enforcement agencies
In the months since Reid infiltrated the chat group, investigators have helped uncover the identities of other members.
“Many of the offenders had taken significant steps to mask their identities,” prosecutors said in Wednesday’s news release. “The investigative team engaged these offenders online and tricked them into revealing personal identifying information.”
At least 38 leads were sent to other law enforcement agencies across the country, which led to the arrests of 23 people and the rescue of eight children, prosecutors said.
One of the accused offenders was a man in Ohio who had reportedly been sexually abusing his 14-year-old daughter for 10 years, according to the news release.
Another accused offender was arrested on an oil rig in the North Sea, a body of water between the UK and Norway. His 5-year-old daughter was also rescued, prosecutors said.
“Protecting children is a high calling,” U.S. Attorney Matt Martin said in the news release. “The Boone Police Department, the NC SBI, and the Department of Homeland Security are answering the call. The excellent proactive work of the investigators in this case has undoubtedly changed victims’ lives for the better and safeguarded others. I am proud that an investigation that began here in North Carolina has resulted in such a positive impact across the country, and even abroad.”
