In a raid conducted to seize suspected child pornography in a Bellevue, Ohio, home late last month, law enforcement agents say that they discovered and seized a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia. That was in addition to computers, DVDs, USB drives and hard drives believed to contain pornographic images.
The raid was conducted by agents from Ohio’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation as well as local police. The Crimes Against Children Unit of the BCI, which monitors child pornography downloading, “tracked downloads to Bellevue and we worked with them on the investigation for the last five months” according to a Bellevue detective. The primary suspect is believed to be a long-time area resident in his 30s.
According to the detective, when officers discovered the drug paraphernalia and what they identified as an illegal substance during the search, “[t]o be on the safe side, we requested a second search warrant and collected drug evidence to be processed by the BCI crime lab.”
There are strict laws regulating under what circumstances law enforcement officers can seize property and use it as evidence to arrest and charge someone with a crime. One of the jobs of a criminal defense attorney is to ensure that proper procedures were followed by police and other law enforcement. These procedures apply whether people are stopped in their car, on the street or whether police come to a person’s residence or business. If evidence is illegally obtained, it may be thrown out of court and not be used against a person. That’s why it’s crucial if you are accused of a crime to know your rights.
Source: The News-Messenger, “Electronics seized in Bellevue child porn raid,” Craig Shoup, Jan. 27, 2017