TRAIL, Ore. — A marijuana grow operation is under investigation criminal investigation today for child pornography.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) says the Southern Oregon Child Exploitation Team (SOCET) joint inter-agency task force served a search warrant this morning after discovering child exploitation images were uploaded from a residence on the property. Detectives are interviewing possible witnesses and involved parties, and investigations are ongoing.
JCSO says its deputies, Illegal Marijuana Enforcement Team (IMET) detectives, and Southern Oregon High Tech Crimes Task Force (SOHTCTF) investigators assisted with SOCET’s warrant service at a licensed marijuana farm in the 4700 block of Highway 227 in Trail.
It says during the warrant investigators seized digital devices which will be forensically examined by SOHTCTF for further evidence of child exploitation. SOHTCTF includes high-tech crime detectives from JCSO, Oregon State Police, Homeland Security Investigations and Medford Police Department.
JCSO says several tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) started the investigation, which led to subpoenas, followed by the search warrant at the residence. It says this case included more than a dozen separate cyber tips during the last few years, starting the case that originated in Portland before transferring to SOCET investigators in Jackson County.
SOCET is a joint inter-agency task force that started in June of 2020 to combat child exploitation and human trafficking. The task force consists of JCSO investigators, Grants Pass Police Department and HSI along with prosecutors from local, state and federal law enforcement partners in Jackson County and Josephine County.
