Isle of Wight Investigators Use Technology, Undercover Operations to Track Online Predators

ISLE OF WIGHT, Va. — Behind the doors of the Isle of Wight Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Division, a small team of investigators spends its days pursuing people accused of exploiting children online. “We hunt predators.” That’s how Lt. Matt Van Wassen describes the mission of the department’s Digital Forensics Unit, which investigates child exploitation cases, tracks the distribution of child sexual abuse material, and identifies adults who attempt to contact minors online. One recent investigation led detectives to a 70-year-old Isle of Carrolton man accused of possessing child sexual abuse material. “Unfortunately, after doing this for as long as we’ve been doing it, nothing surprises me,” Van Wassen said. According to investigators, a search warrant executed at the suspect’s home uncovered illegal material stored on a computer. Technology Working Around the Clock A key weapon in the unit’s investigations is a computer running specialized software designed to identify known child exploitation material. The system operates continuously, scanning for digital signatures known as “hash values.” Van Wassen compares the process to identifying a file through its unique mathematical fingerprint. “So it’s looking for the DNA of the photos,” says Van Wassen. “It’s probably found stuff right now as we speak,”
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