HOPE, Maine — Federal investigators seized computers and other electronic devices earlier this year from a Hope residence as part of a child pornography probe.
No one has been charged yet, but according to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Portland to obtain a search warrant, investigators with the U.S. Homeland Security agency began an online conversation on Jan. 24 with a person in an “incest-oriented” chatroom.
That conversation then went to Skype, in which the individual agreed to send an investigator, who was posing as someone with an 11-year-old daughter, images of child sexual exploitation in exchange for a video of the fake dad engaging in sexual contact with his daughter.
The person then sent the images to the investigator.
The federal agents from San Jose, California, were able to track down the Internet provider and forwarded that information to the Homeland Security Office in Portland. There were 10 images and seven met the definition of child pornography, according to the affidavit.
The investigation determined that the sender of the images was a young white male.
Homeland Security contacted the Knox County Sheriff’s Office and compared the Skype photo of the suspect with their knowledge of the man and confirmed his identity.
On March 20, federal agents executed a search warrant at the residence on Hatchet Mountain Road and seized two cellphones, three laptop computers and three desktop computers.
A telephone message left Wednesday morning with the Homeland Security Office in Portland was not immediately returned.