Attorney General Andy Beshear said a cyber-tip from Facebook led his office to arrest a 25-year-old Dry Ridge man for allegedly exchanging sexual images with a Kentucky minor over the Facebook Messenger app.
On Oct. 8, Tyler Lee Day was arrested by Beshear’s Department of Criminal Investigations, Cyber Crimes Unit. Day was charged with 12 counts of use of a minor under 16 in a sexual performance, Class B felonies; two counts of the prohibited use of a communications system to procure a minor for a sex offense, Class D felonies; and two counts of distribution of obscene matter to a minor, Class A misdemeanors.
The arrest stems from a cyber-tip reported by Facebook to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which was received by Beshear’s office and investigated for seven weeks.
Detectives from Beshear’s office submitted multiple subpoenas and search warrants during the investigation, which led to the discovery that Day had sent sexual images of himself, requested sexual images of children and, in some cases, received images from children.
More than 15 children from multiple states were targeted by Day.
“Make no mistake, the internet is a treacherous place for our children and nearly every online platform or app can be exploited by sexual predators,” Beshear said. “We all have a moral and legal duty to report child abuse, and once my office receives a report we work with local, state and federal partners to ensure child predators are caught quickly and that our children are safe.”
An extensive search by Beshear’s detectives led to a Dry Ridge location where Day was taken into custody. He is currently being held in the Carroll County Jail, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 16 in Gallatin District Court.
The Williamstown Police and Grant County Sheriff’s Office assisted the Cyber Crimes Unit.
When it comes to identifying child predators, Beshear’s office has reached historic levels with more arrests than ever before.
The Cyber Crimes Unit is part of the Kentucky Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which works to reduce the number of child predators going after Kentucky’s most vulnerable children.
With the ever-changing cyber landscape, the unit is dedicated to educating its detectives on the most current techniques and technologies to keep pace with those seeking to harm our children.
The Office of the Attorney General also makes it a priority to educate law enforcement, prosecutors, parents, children and care givers on the dangers lurking on the internet.
To help keep children safe online, the office has collaborated with Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky to offer statewide trainings.
Beshear said the trainings offer a free Internet Safety Toolkit, which he said every Kentuckian could access online to obtain information that can protect children from cyber bullying to online predators.
To report any instance of child abuse to local law enforcement or to Kentucky’s Child Abuse hotline at 877-597-2331 or 877-KYSAFE1.
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