Internet Crimes Against Children: Etowah, RBC investigations lead to 22 arrests this year
Investigators with the Etowah County Sheriff's Office and Rainbow City Police Department conducted four warranted searches Thursday, and made four arrests for child pornography and other charges.
Sheriff Jonathon Horton and RBC Chief John Bryant said the investigators, who are part of the state's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, have made 22 arrests since the first of the year in connection with pornography investigations.
Arrests Thursday included a father and son, Horton said, who were charged with possession of child pornography.
Bryant said since the end of February, two of the department's detectives have been conducting online chats that have resulted in seven arrests, on charges ranging from sending explicit images to minors to traveling to meet a minor for sex.
Arrests have been made in Alabama, and in other states as well. Some offenders are awaiting extradition to Alabama.
Both Bryant and Horton expressed appreciation for the investigative team's efforts. "We understand it takes dedication and long hours working the cases mentioned," they said in a joint statement, "but the investigators work tirelessly to help ensure children are being protected."
Other agencies were involved as well: Jacksonville and Leesburg police in Alabama; Houston, El Paso, Louisville, New Albany (Indiana), Grand Rapids (Michigan) and Colorado Springs police departments elsewhere in the U.S.; Harris County (Texas), Ottawa County (Michigan) and El Paso County (Colorado) sheriff's offices; and the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles.
Arrests made since Jan. 1 included:
• Travis Lynn Butler II, 52, arrested Thursday, charged with 20 counts of possession of child pornography;
• Travis Lynn Bulter III, 25, arrested Thursday, charged with nine counts of possession of child pornography;
• Devin Wayne Lankford, 19, arrested Thursday, charged with 11 counts of possession of child pornography;
• Aaron Vandenbout, 46, arrested April 20, charged with 10 counts of transmitting obscene material to a child;
• Kevin Swiderski, 44, arrested March 7, charged with two counts of traveling to meet a child for sex;
• Kyle Cain, 37, arrested March 15, charged with transmitting obscene material to a child.
The 22 arrests cited included other cases previously reported, and some arrested in other locations, awaiting extradition.
Another arrest was for drug possession, and seven were arrested on charges of chemical endangerment of a child.
https://www.gadsdentimes.com/story/news/2022/05/02/authorities-make-child-porn-arrests/9614224002/