Search of house on Pine Street on Tuesday morning turned up evidence of downloads, authorities say

By Morgan Rothborne, Ashland.news 

Ashland police officers and Jackson County Sheriff’s deputies worked together with the Southern Oregon Child Exploitation Team (SOCET) joint inter-agency task force to serve a warrant Tuesday for child exploitation in Ashland, according to a release from the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO). 

The warrant was served after 8 a.m. in the first block of Pine Street following an investigation after a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children which led to an investigation, subpoenas and ultimately the warrant served Tuesday morning, according to the release. The investigation led to the discovery that images of child exploitation were downloaded to a computer at the residence, according to the release. 

The Southern Oregon High Tech Crimes Task Force (SOHTCTF) investigators also assisted in the investigation. Devices were seized during the warrant which will later be forensically scanned to search for additional evidence of child exploitation, according to the release. 

The SOCET joint interagency task force began in June 2020 to contend with child exploitation through combining the forces of investigators from JCSO, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and prosecutors from local, state and federal law enforcement partners in Jackson and Josephine County. 

SOHTCTF is a joint interagency task force made up of investigators from JCSO, HSI, Oregon State Police, and Medford Police Department, according to the release. 

Email Ashland.news reporter Morgan Rothborne at [email protected]. 

Related story: Apartment on Talent Avenue searched after child porn tip (July 31, 2024)