Scenario 14
Subscription – Scenario 14
| Scenario 14 | Subscription- E-Mail and Internet Protocol (IP) Furthers Child Molestation Case |
| Capability | Subscription (Using E-Mail and Internet Protocol Addresses); Search |
| Data | User Queries of N-DEx |
| Crime | Sex Offender; Child Molestation |
| Functional Areas | Tactical; Operational (Investigations and Sting Operation) |
| Scenario |
A detective in Bangor, Maine assigned to monitor a registered sex offender believes the man, Sam Lindblad, has been attempting to molest children again. The detective’s suspicion was aroused after the manager of the apartment complex where Lindblad resides found an advertisement posted by Lindblad in the complex laundry room, offering to tutor children after school. When the detective went to Lindblad’s apartment to question him, he noticed crayon drawings by children on the refrigerator and observed Lindblad cutting pictures of young boys out of catalogues. As no laws had been broken, the detective had to leave Lindblad’s apartment. He returned to his office and searched for Lindblad’s name in N-DEx using his identifiers to obtain information about Lindblad and to learn whether any other LEA had conducted an investigation on him. He also enters a subscription to be alerted of future activity on Lindblad. The detective included Lindblad’s e-mail address of “tigerguy@aol.com” and Internet Protocol (IP) address in the subscription request. Six months later, N-DEx notified the detective when Lindblad’s IP address had been queried on the system. A special agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming, responded to a complaint by a service member that her 10-year-old son was being approached online by someone using the screen name “lionguy@aol.com” who she thought might be an adult. The text of the message, while stopping short of asking the child to meet the man for sex, was suggestive. The AFOSI agent did not believe he had enough evidence to seek a subpoena for the Internet Provider to obtain the true identity of the screen name so he entered the IP address into N-DEx as a search. N-DEx recognized the IP address from the Bangor subscription and notified both parties. |
| Outcome | Once notified of the investigation in Wyoming, the detective in Maine conducted an investigation to verify the IP address for Lindblad in Maine was the same one used in Wyoming. Based on a positive return, investigators’ designed a sting operation that resulted in Lindblad’s arrest. |
| N-DEx Process that Allows Outcome | See diagram below. |
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As depicted, the N-DEx Search capability allows investigators to search identifying information and descriptors about an entity and register a subscription for any records. If any N-DEx user searches for the same, or a similar entity, N-DEx notifies the user who set the subscription. In this case, the detective in Bangor was notified that another detective in Wyoming was performing a search of the IP address of the suspect.
