NH online crimes unit sees more child sex cases.

AuthorTuohy, Lynne
PositionNews

Byline: Lynne Tuohy

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Investigators are quick to admit they got lucky in detecting school bus driver John Allen Wright's sex abuse of children. A woman visiting a friend near Wright's Milton home unwittingly latched onto his wireless Internet connection and found sexually graphic images of children.

But getting the evidence to convict him of abusing the disabled children he drove and taping the abuse on a hidden camera required nearly 100 hours of computer forensic examinations by New Hampshire's Internet Crimes Against Children unit.

The unit was one of 10 formed nationwide in 1998. There are now 61 ICAC units in the country, growing in number and force as Internet use expands and criminals and their computers grow more sophisticated.

''It's such a scourge,'' said U.S. Attorney John Kacavas, whose office prosecuted Wright. ''We can do this work all day, every day, and we would never catch up with it.''

The number of child pornography complaints the New Hampshire unit received in 2011 rose to 178 from 116 the year before.

Arrests went from 20 to 30, according to a U.S. Department of Justice report. ICAC units nationwide received 31,630 cyber tips in 2011, up from 23,314 in 2010.

ICAC investigators analyzed thousands of images on Wright's computer to figure out that he used a hidden camera in a pair of sunglasses to record the abuse.

Wright, 46, was convicted of sexual exploitation of children and possession of child pornography. He was sentenced this year to 160 years in prison.

''That was a huge amount of work,'' said Portsmouth police Sgt. Tom Grella, who commands the ICAC unit. ''We had to show that there was some device that was recording the acts.''

At the core of the New Hampshire unit are certified forensic computer analysts from police departments in Portsmouth, Rochester, Hinsdale, Concord, Hampton and Nashua.

The unit...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT