Children are being sexually exploited by predators lurking on the internet, social media apps, and now gaming platforms. It’s happening in small towns and big cities across the country, including Ohio.
“The monsters that we are chasing are now coming into your home with some device,” said Kirtland Police Chief Jamey Fisher.
Kirtland Police Detective Jake Scott is on a mission to stop it.
“I will pursue these relentlessly,” said Scott.
Two years ago, Kirtland Police signed an agreement with the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force to investigate these types of crimes in their community. Case referrals began landing on Scott’s desk.
“Anywhere on the internet where there are children, there’s going to be adults who have a proclivity for sexual abuse of children trying to speak with those kids, groom those kids and foster relationships,” Scott said.
His first case involved 45-year-old Todd Oravecz, a Kirtland man who was arrested, indicted, and pleaded guilty to several charges, including receipt, distribution and transportation of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Agents found more than 100 child sexual abuse material images and videos on his electronic devices that included children under 12 years old.
Hellbound and Down 