Federal child pornography cases can arise in a number of ways. Typically, they will be the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI or Homeland Security. Federal agents utilize various investigative techniques to discover persons in possession or distributing child porn. In addition, private entities like Google, Dropbox, Yahoo, and others can report incidents where they have discovered child pornography on a computer drive, email account, or another facility. You may have been targeted as the result of:
- Pretending to be a minor in a chat room or on social media attempting to make contact with a minor;
- Online discussions with individuals purportedly interested in obtaining or exchanging child pornography, or meeting with minors;
- Inspection of your data by an internet provider;
- Searches of electronic devices while at international borders (including airports) without a warrant;
- Downloading prohibited child porn files onto personal devices through a peer-to-peer network like Vuze, Kazaa, LimeWire or BitTorrent,
- Creating illegitimate websites or taking control of legitimate websites that offer distribution of child porn; or
- Obtaining and executing a search warrant of the electronic devices within the home.
Individuals are often the subject of a child porn investigation without knowledge. This is usually the case with something drawing the attention to federal law enforcement or the National Center for Missing or Exploited Children.
