[B]URLINGTON — An undercover investigation of peer-to-peer computer networks has led to the arrest of four Vermont men on child pornography-related charges, local, state and federal law enforcement officials announced on Thursday, at an event at Champlain College’s Leahy Center for Digital Investigation.
Thursday’s event, attended by police, investigators, prosecutors and federal agents, was to highlight recent efforts in Vermont to combat online sex crimes, and to introduce Mojo, a 2-year-old yellow Labrador retriever specially trained to assist in such cases — and possessing an ability to sniff out the digital storage devices that perpetrators often use.
“These devices get smaller each year and easier to conceal,” said Detective Matt Raymond of the Vermont Attorney General’s Office and commander of the Vermont Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
Mojo is one of only a few dozen electronic detection canines assisting law enforcement in the U.S, Raymond said. Mojo started working in Vermont earlier this year.
“Anything people use to store electronic media on, he can locate,” Raymond said of Mojo.
The dog is trained to sniff out a chemical used in the digital storage devices, which range from a computer tower to a micro SD card as small as a fingernail.
Raymond spoke of the frustration of past cases in which investigators believed suspects had downloaded child porn, but on conducting a search for the storage devices, there was nothing to be found.
Since starting earlier this year, he said, Mojo already has assisted law enforcement in searches and aided in the discovery of digital storage devices.
The recent investigation, called Operation Peer Review, ran over three days in mid-April and led to the arrest of four suspects on federal and state charges.
Tips coming into the Vermont ICAC Task Force have increased 157 percent in the last two years, Raymond said. The task force is an inter-agency group operating out of the state attorney general’s office.
Since October 2015, the task force has conducted 664 investigations, received 577 “cybertips” from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and arrested 87 people for crimes against children.
Those arrested in the recent undercover investigation are:
- Shane Martensen, 45, of Burlington, charged in federal court with possession of child pornography. Martensen has pleaded not guilty. According to court records, Martensen was previously arrested in 1995 and later convicted of kidnapping and sexual assault involving an 11-year-old girl in Colorado. Martensen was arrested in 2005 for the attempted kidnapping of a 5-year-old girl in Florida, and ultimately convicted of cruelty to a child, court records said.
- Lukas Vopenka, 28, of South Burlington, charged in state court with three counts of possessing child pornography. Vopenka has pleaded not guilty to the offenses.
- Brendan Sullivan, 22, of Milton, charged in state court with one count of promotion of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. Sullivan has pleaded not guilty to the offenses.
- Suin Sun, 29, of Winooski, charged in state court with two counts of promotion of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. Sun has pleaded not guilty to the offenses.
Peer-to-peer networks, according to Raymond, utilize software that allows people to share electronic files anywhere in the world.
“These networks are sometimes exploited by child predators to obtain and share files depicting child pornograpy,” he said.
In Operation Peer Review, Raymond said, Vermont ICAC investigators, operating undercover online, obtained files containing child pornography.
Investigators executed five search warrants leading to the arrest of the four men.
Raymond said there was no indication the men had “collaborated” in any way.
“They’re only related in the fact that they are using peer-to-peer technology,” the detective said.
He added that there is also no indication that any of the images were made in Vermont or depicted Vermonters.
The attorney general’s office also announced that Zachary Rose, of Milton, who had been charged in a separate online sex sting, was found guilty in a jury trial on Wednesday of a charge of luring a child.
Online sex crimes, including possessing and producing child pornography, is not only a Vermont concern, but also a global issue, Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan said.
“These kids, these are real victims who are being sexually abused,” he said. “That’s why we’re here today to raise awareness about this.”
