New Mexico teen in basic training busted for alleged possession of child porn
A teenager from Truth or Consequences, New Mexico is facing child porn charges after allegedly uploading a photo on the social media network Tumblr.
New Mexico State Police arrested Daryl Harlan Thomas, 18, on December 20, 2018 in Silver City, New Mexico. Harlan, accused of manufacturing, distributing and possessing child pornography, is facing three counts of Sexual Exploitation of Children.
A criminal complaint obtained by ABC-7 states Tumblr submitted a “cyber tip” to the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which included an attached photo allegedly depicting a juvenile girl performing oral sex on an adult male.
Investigators obtained an Internet Provider (IP) address from Tumblr and that IP address was traced to the physical address at 1513 Corzine Street in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.
The court document states the Tumblr account linked to the photo was allegedly linked to an email address belonging to Thomas.
Investigators visited the residence and met with the suspect’s mother and fiancee, who said Thomas enlisted in the military and was stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia for basic training.
Under interrogation, Thomas allegedly admitted to having a Tumblr account linked to one of his email accounts, but said he could not remember which one because he had several email accounts.
The court document states Thomas also told investigators his phone was “glitching” because he had dropped it in water. Later in the interview, he allegedly admitted to downloading and uploading child pornography to Tumblr through a group he was in.
Thomas told investigators he had been in a group called “Unknwon” for two weeks when he began noticing other members were posting photos of nude juvenile girls.
When investigators showed Thomas the photo the juvenile girl performing oral sex – the one uploaded to Tumblr – Thomas allegedly admitted to uploading the photo. The teenager allegedly told investigators he uploaded the photo “with the intention of finding out why they were posting things like that in the group.”
Thomas told investigators he was going to report the photo, but never did. The teenager allegedly told investigators, that as he was flying to Fort Benning, “he though he should delete all the photos before he landed but, in his laziness, he didn’t.”
Thomas allegedly told investigators the photos were still in his phone in a Tumblr folder and gave investigators consent to search and analyze the contents of his cell phone, the court document states.
A search of the phone allegedly “revealed a large amount of child erotica, child pornography and anime depicting child pornography.”