Authorities In California Announce Arrest Of Major Distributor Of Child Sexual Abuse Material

Authorities in California’s Bay Area say they found more than 120 terabytes of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) while executing a search warrant at a residence last week.

The Solano County Sheriff’s Office said Monday that it only “recently” placed a full-time investigator solely on cases involving internet crimes against children, and already have found a major purveyor of child porn.

Last Thursday, the sheriff’s office, in coordination with Solano County Probation and the Vacaville Police Department, served a search warrant on a Vallejo resident suspected of distributing and selling CSAM.

Investigators recovered more than 20 computers, a server, and multiple anti-forensic and “hacking” tools, along with more than 120 terabytes of CSAM.

“To put the amount of data in perspective. 1 TB of data is roughly 120 hours of HD video,” the sheriff’s office said. By that measure, 120 terabytes of data would amount to 14,400 hours of HD video, or 600 days’ worth.

The sheriff’s office said investigation and arrest stemmed from an earlier S.A.F.E. (Sexual Assault Felony Enforcment) Street sweep, “which is a continuous and ongoing enforcement and investigation into all sexual assault crimes.”