So Southern Or. task force arrests 6 local suspects for 61 felony counts of encouraging child sex abuse

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https://kobi5.com/news/local-news/south ... se-166471/


Southern Or. task force arrests 6 local suspects for 61 felony counts of encouraging child sex abuse

Six separate suspects were arrested Thursday on 61 Encouraging Child Sex Abuse felony charges.

The Southern Oregon Child Exploitation Team (SOCET) joint inter-agency task force made the arrests, after numerous local agencies served warrants throughout Jackson and Josephine counties. SOCET is a joint inter-agency task force that started in June of 2020, to combat child exploitation and human trafficking.

Police say the cases are not connected, but the investigations uncovered nearly 7,000 images of child exploitation. Among the six people arrested, there are 44 first-degree felony charges, and 17 second-degree


Officials say one-third of the suspects arrested had local child victims.

Police say the investigations led the task force throughout the Rogue Valley, including addresses in Ashland, Central Point, Grants Pass, Medford, Talent, and White City. These locations included where suspects uploaded child exploitation images, as well as their residences and places of employment.

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children tips started each investigation, which led to subpoenas, followed by search warrants at the respective residences. Digital devices were seized and were forensically examined at the Southern Oregon High Tech Crimes Task Force.

33-year-old Anthony Paul Craker of Ashland, was arrested on 15 felony counts of Encouraging Child Sexual Abuse in the First Degree. Police say during the course of the investigation it was discovered Craker was communicating sexually with minors and was found to be in possession of more than 700 child exploitation images. He is now lodged at the Jackson County jail on $250,000 bail.

31-year-old White City resident Jon Paul Bouchard was arrested on two First Degree felony counts of Encouraging Child Sexual Abuse. He is now lodged at the Jackson County jail on $50,000 bail.

19-year-old Omar De Jesus Galvan of White City, was arrested on 10 First Degree felony counts of Encouraging Child Sexual Abuse. Police say De Jesus Galvan was found to be in possession of more than 3,600 images of child exploitation, and is now lodged at the Jackson County jail on $250,000 bail.



60-year-old Stephen Bernard Habermann of Grants Pass, was arrested on 11 First Degree felony counts of Encouraging Child Sexual Abuse. Investigators discovered images of local children downloaded from social media and altered so the victims looked nude, and police say the images were then traded online for child pornography. Habermann was found to be in possession of more than 500 child exploitation images. He is now lodged at the Josephine County jail on $250,000 bail.

Medford resident Christopher Randall Savage, 39, was arrested on two First Degree felony counts of Encouraging Child Sexual Abuse, and 12 Second Degree felony counts of Encouraging Child Sexual Abuse. Police say Savage was found to be in possession of more than 2000 images of child exploitation. He is now lodged at the Jackson County jail on $250,000 bail.

38 year-old Matthew Alan Desmet of Central Point, was arrested on four First Degree felony counts of Encouraging Child Sexual Abuse, and five Second Degree felony counts of Encouraging Child Sexual Abuse. Police say Desmet was found to be in possession of 19 child exploitation images. He is now lodged at the Jackson County jail on $250,000 bail.


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