TBI Internet Crimes Against Child Task Force’s Make 10 Arrest, Including Lawrence County Native

The TBI Internet Crimes Against Child Task Force’s special agents have arrested ten persons in a three-month investigation to combat online child exploitation and sextortion in Tennessee.

More than a dozen children who had been the victims of sextortion and exploitation were also found throughout the operation. Local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies from throughout the state and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and Internet Crimes Against Children provided support for this operation. Agents are still working to find and identify eight more children who have been targeted.

These kids ranged in age from 12 to 17. The majority of these victims were active on social media sites like Snapchat and Instagram. These businesses did submit the first report to NCMEC.

The perpetrator developed new sexual exploitation content and disseminated it on social media, which led to the identification and rescue of 5 of the 19 juvenile victims. One male arrested is Stephen Thomas Dyer, of Lawrence County, who was charged with one county Sexual Exploitation of a Minor.