Twitter tips lead to man’s arrest on child porn charges
Las Vegas police said they arrested a man after tips from Twitter led them to discover child pornography on his devices.
Jacob Morales, 22, was arrested on Dec. 13 and faces two counts of possessing pornography of a person under the age of 16.
Police said they learned about the pornography from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, when the center forwarded two separate cyber tips it received from Twitter in 2020 and 2021. The tips were about a user uploading 18 files of child pornography from the same IP address on two separate occasions, in October 2020 and February 2021.
Las Vegas police, alongside FBI SWAT, searched Morales’ home, where he lived with his father, brother and brother’s girlfriend, on Nov. 30, 2021. Police said they previewed 20 devices at the home, and six were taken in as evidence. All six devices were found in Morales’ bedroom, according to his arrest report.
Police found child pornography on two of those devices, a phone and a computer, after a forensic analysis of the six devices taken as evidence. According to police, over 1,000 pictures and 200 videos of child pornography were found on the cellphone.
Investigators also found photos and videos of Morales on the phone as proof that the phone was his, as well as Google accounts and emails to prove that the computer was his.
Police said everyone living with Morales was cooperative with the investigation while Morales was not. Police said he asked for an attorney before answering any questions after officers asked for the passcode to his phone.
Morales’ father “immediately referred to his son Jacob” when police told him the investigation was about child sexual abuse material, according to police. He told police that Morales was always on his computer and described him as “not social, no girlfriend, no friends, etc,” according to the arrest report. Morales’ brother and brother’s girlfriend told officers that they had no idea who would be involved with child pornography at the home.
The suspect is due back in court on Jan. 11.
Contact Mark Credico at mcredico@reviewjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @MarkCredicoII.
