TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) —In her latest special report, WTWO/WAWV’s Patrece Dayton gives us a closer look at how the local Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) is keeping our kids safe here in the Wabash Valley.
Internet crimes against children include sextortion, child pornography, and predatory sex crimes against all kinds of children, of all ages, both girls and boys.
Because of the growing problem, there are task forces dedicated to internet crimes against children in every state. There are also regional ICAC teams in many cities, including here in the Wabash Valley.
To get an in-depth look at how these task forces operate, Dayton and WTWO/WAWV’s Videographer Josh Lum was allowed to join a local ICAC team as they moved in and made an arrest.
On that day, their target was 44-year-old Brandon Shockley, of Farmersburg.
Detectives said he is their suspect in a case involving child exploitation and possession of child pornography.
A large team— including the Terre Haute Police Department, Vigo County Sheriff’s Office, Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office, Secret Service, and a state mobile forensics vehicle from Bloomington— was all on scene for the raid of Shockley’s home, to help analyze electronics found as evidence in the case.
Police said during the raid, they found an elaborate computer room inside the home. The search warrant turned up computer towers, cell phones, and laptops.
“Made an arrest, found plenty of electronics. Will be sent off to be forensically analyzed to see if there’s more information,” said Captain Gary Shook, Director of Terre Haute Police Department Juvenile Division.
Once police get out all of the potential evidence they can see, Titus, an Electronics Storage Detection canine, is put to work.
Titus and his handler, Sergeant Ginger Marshall, are from the State ICAC Division Headquarters near Indianapolis.
“He can smell the scent that is sprayed on electronic devices that keeps them from overheating, SD cards, USB thumb drives, cell phones, tablets, computers, anything that has a memory chip in it; he can find it,” said Marshall.
Titus was brought into the Farmersburg house for one final sweep, sniffing for hidden electronics and even hidden cameras.
“The internet has done nothing but do this to everyone in the world. We can now reach out to anyone, anywhere, at the click of a button. And because of that, it’s caused people who are predators to find ways to take advantage of kids,” said Josh Loudermilk, ICAC Detective.
Loudermilk is one of two full-time ICAC detectives with the Terre Haute Police Department Juvenile Division. When he’s not out serving arrest warrants, he’s working on day-to-day computer operations, looking for predators.
“They’re everywhere. They’re in our community here. They’re in the Wabash Valley”, said Loudermilk. “We have I-70, we have a casino, we have 41, we have hotels, there are people coming to our town, coming to our hotels and committing crimes against children while they’re here, and we’re not catching everything, and the more attention we can pay to this, the more we can give it the better.”
Loudermilk said the work here in the Wabash Valley has a national effect, and predators busted by the regional task force could be predators who end up preying on a child in another state.
On a daily basis, detectives work several cyber tip lines. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children takes tips from all around the country.
Advancements in technology and artificial intelligence are changing what cyber crimes look like. New challenges as police work to intercept people trying to meet kids.
“We can’t just look out the front window anymore to keep our kids safe. We can’t just say hey it’s dark, you can’t go outside anymore because that’s not where the predators are. There still are some, but the predators are online now,” said Loudermilk.
Currently, the regional ICAC team consists of the Terre Haute Police Department, West Terre Haute Police Department, Vigo County Sheriff’s Department, the Indiana State University High Tech Crime Unit, Rockville Police Department, as well as the Vigo County Prosecutors’ Office.
However, Loudermilk said his goal is to have more agencies in more counties join up to create a Wabash Valley-wide task force.
