Post-Arrest Child Pornography Investigations in Maryland

If you or someone you know has been taken into custody on federal child pornography charges, the following information is what you can expect from the post arrest investigation according to a Maryland federal child pornography lawyer. For more specific information pertaining to your case, call today. Generally speaking, when somebody is arrested in a child pornography situation, that individual’s computers, phones, and other electronics would probably have been seized before the arrest because the investigation stage of a case like this one starts well in advance of somebody being arrested.

If one is simply arrested and there was no investigation that they were aware of beforehand, then certainly they can expect that they will be searched and items that are on them at the time of arrest be seized. A person could also expect that when they are charged with an offense like this the prosecution will probably also have a warrant to search their home to make sure that any other computers, images, videos, or other potential evidence that might be on the premises are also seized and made a part of the investigation.

What Will Agents Look For In Their Investigation?

For child pornography cases, law enforcement is going to be looking for any kind of computer where things might be stored.
Those items are consistent with somebody’s possession or distribution of child pornography. They might also search for any individual documents or paperwork that might support possession of actual physical images or videos of child pornography. Then finally, cellular phones, DVDs, compact discs, and other areas where things might be stored would also be part of a warrant that might be executed for child pornography.

They might also ask for, especially if an individual lives with other people, statements from the other members of the household who might identify one particular person as the one who uses a particular electronic device, like a computer or a cell phone. This is used to rule out other people that could potentially be charged or rule out possible defenses for an individual who might say that he was not the only one who had access to that particular piece of electronic equipment.

Information About Online Activity

Most of the time when you’re online, you are subject to being searched if you’re entering areas of the Internet that are not considered private. In child pornography statutes, when you are following an image that has been flagged, it is legal for police officers to follow that image because the Internet is a public place and just like an airport or some other public facility you are subject to having your activity tracked on the Internet, particularly if it involves something illegal.

It’s definitely fairly easy for them to get this information. It’s a place that the officers have the ability to monitor and track somebody’s behavior very, very closely. If officers know what they’re looking for and typically speaking in these kinds of cases, they do, it’s as simple following the image, as opposed to the person that they’re investigating where they have to track down people that they want who have been charged for a particular criminal violation.

It is very easy for them to get the information. It is not something that requires any exceptional new amount of skill or training. Most of the officers who are tracking this kind of behavior have been doing it for a long time. They are seasoned in knowing how to identify people on the Internet that raise some level of suspicion.