Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Can dogs really sniff out child pornography?

At any given time, an estimated 750,000 child predators are trolling the internet for victims. Can a dog smell them?

Perhaps not directly. But they can smell the evidence.

Predators who enjoy watching or participating in the sexual abuse of children prefer to keep the records of their depravity on small media such as thumb drives or micro-sd cards that can be easily hidden from the prying eyes of spouses or law enforcement.

But a dog trained to sniff out electronic devices can find them whether they're taped under a mattress or buried inside a shoe at the back of a closet.

Thoreau, a golden lab,  flunked out of Guiding Eyes for the Blind in New York.
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Detective Adam Houston & Thoreau
But after 22 weeks of new training this year,  he found his true calling with the Rhode Island State Police. He made his first bust almost immediately  Hidden deep inside a tin box in a metal cabinet, Thoreau detected what the human searchers had been unable to find--a thumb drive. Stuffed with child porn. The evidence needed to make an arrest.

Selma, who also washed out of guide dog training, has pursued a career with the Connecticut State Police Computer Crimes Unit.
Selma

Since joining the force in 2013, she has helped serve more than 50 search warrants in cases ranging from document fraud to child porn to murder

Oympic gymnastics coach Marvin Sharp had been named the 2010 USA Coach of the Year. When one of his protegees accused him of having molested her over 2 years, he denied the allegations.
Marvin Sharp (USOC)
Marvin Sharp

With just the one complaint, there didn't seem to be much evidence against him until Daisy came into the picture.

Daisy, a 19 month old lab, had a rough start in life.
Fred Hopper helps Daisy, a rescue dog, practice finding SD cards, computer hard drives and other electronics, in Walden.
Daisy, with handler, Fred Hopper
When her druggie owners stiffed their dealer, he took Daisy, abused her, and then tried to sell her. She was taken to a shelter, where an officer recognized her potential and recommended her for special training with Todd Jordan at Tactical Detection K9 in Kentucky.

Daisy didn't take long to prove her worth. She uncovered the evidence that led to Marvin Sharp's arrest  on August 24. Now facing multiple counts of producing child pornography with students as young as six, he apparently committed suicide in jail last Saturday,

The biggest bust of all was probably that of Jared Fogle, who made Subway rich and himself rich and famous with commercials featuring his claim to have lost 245 pounds on a diet of Subway sandwiches. 
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Jared Fogle in happier times
He started the Fogle Foundation, promising to donate $1,000,000 a year to end childhood obesity. 

Not quite.


Investigators had searched his property in July, but failed to find anything. The D.A. didn't believe them when they told him they had a dog who could find the evidence.
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The raid on Fogle's property
But Bear came through.
Bear
 Like Daisy, Bear was one of Todd Jordan's trainees.
Police dog Bear finds key evidence in Fogle case
Bear with Federal authorities outside Fogle's home
He found a thumb drive, and Jared Fogle changed his plea to "guilty."

His sentencing is set for November 19.

Bear immediately got a job offer from the Seattle police department, where it is to be hoped he'll be able to help take many more creeps off the streets.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/porn-sniffing-dog-helped-bring-down-subway-star-jared-fogle-n415826
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/dog-credited-finding-thumb-drive-jared-fogle-raid-article-1.2337252
http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/electronics-sniffing-police-dog-uncovered-key-evidence-in-jared-fogle-child-porn-case-1.2529927
http://www.ibtimes.com/jared-fogle-child-porn-raid-police-dog-rare-sniffing-skills-critical-subway-guy-2063899
 http://www.recordonline.com/article/20150920/NEWS/150929979
http://theweek.com/speedreads/445552/police-dogs-trained-sniff-electronic-devices-storing-child-porn-other-illegal-items
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-23/a-police-dog-for-the-digital-age-she-can-smell-the-usb-drive-you-re-hiding.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/08/police-dogs-child-porn_n_5566765.html
http://www.providencejournal.com/breaking-news/content/20140705-new-methods-to-combat-growth-of-internet-child-porn-in-rhode-island.ece


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