Sheriff's Office aims to strengthen local protection to children with new hire

Sierra Marling, Richmond Register, Ky.
·4 min read

Oct. 19—Sierra Marling

The Madison County Sheriff's Office is branching out its investigative capabilities by hiring a new deputy whose special skillset includes specifically detecting and investigating Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC).

According to Major Tony Terry, who serves as chief deputy at the sheriff's office, Anthony Gatson has been hired onto the force as a deputy detective. The major said that Gatson's 30 years of experience with the Kentucky State Police and approximately 13 years on the ICAC Task Force will inform his work for the citizens of Madison County. He also serves as a task force officer for Homeland Security.

"It's hard to describe the magnitude of what he's capable of investigating," remarked Terry.

Gatson explained that there is an Internet task force for each state and that ICAC provides overall training for all of them, giving them the strength of a uniform approach toward identifying and solving those crimes. Plus, he said, the structure provides them with consistent point people to speak to about cases, which can be important when dealing with perpetrators across different states, or even different countries.

"What we're excited about is being able to focus on Madison County," Gatson said. "Before, my responsibility was Central Kentucky, and sometimes the entire state, depending on what the call was."

The law enforcement officials emphasized that the accessibility of places like Madison County — which has the I-75 corridor — could make it a problematic spot for people who would want to commit crimes against children, especially issues like drug and human trafficking. The "explosion" of the Internet also lends itself to the need, according to Terry.

Gatson said that he had made 8 to 10 ICAC-related arrests within Madison County in recent years, even with his focus being disbursed throughout the state.

Terry chimed in to remark that this is a preventative measure and that Internet crimes are not specifically on the rise within Madison County. Instead, the Sheriff's Office thinks of this hire as a "progressive step forward" for the agency.

"Our whole goal is to protect the kids of Madison County. That goal just goes along with everything else that we tried to do here to protect and serve our kids' future, our most precious gift. So we want to make sure that they're well protected from any of these predators that might be trying to do these evil things to them," said Terry.

The chief deputy added, "But if they don't want to heed our warning, then we do have somebody that's going to be on the inside that's going to be watching for people who's trying to do this. Basically, they better sleep with one eye open, because somebody's going be trying to intercept what they're doing here."

"Like the major said, we want people to know that we exist and we want people to know that we're out there and that we're monitoring the situation. If someone's talking to a child from Richmond, we want them to question whether or not that's a good idea. We would prefer it not to happen as opposed to having to do a case about something that has happened," commented Gatson.

Gatson also explained that the task force receives tips from the Center for Missing and Exploited Children (CMEC) after they receive reports from social media sites, like Facebook, Instagram, and even Pinterest, as they are required by federal law to report any and all sexual exploitation against minors.

CMEC will categorize the threat by triaging the complaints, using factors such as the risk of imminent danger to the child in question, before sending them to the appropriate state task force.

Gatson's particular expertise will allow for expedient handling of many types of cases against children, including online sextortion — or the use of explicit images to manipulate others — and the creation or distribution of child pornography.

Both law enforcement professionals expressed that these cases can bring extensive harm to children, including driving them to harm themselves or involving them in the sex trade, which is why they both emphasized that anyone who sees or hears something involving crimes against minors should contact their office immediately.

"Understand this is out there," said Terry. "Sometimes you need to be nosy with what your children have going on in their lives. You should be looking at their cell phone and their computers to see what they're doing. Then, if something suspect comes up, you can contact us."

Gatson said that there is no call too small, remarking, "There is a difference between something that is inappropriate and what is a crime, but we will definitely look into it."

Additionally, Terry says that the agency hopes to leverage his experience as a valuable educational tool so that he can educate community members and schools, working in tandem with school resource officers and personnel to add more safeguards for children at home and at school.

The phone number for the Madison County Sheriff's Office is 859-623-1511. They can also be reached via their anonymous tip line at 859-624-4797 or by filling out the form at https://sheriff.madisoncountyky.us/tip-line.