The Southern Oregon Child Exploitation Team (SOCET) joint inter-agency task force has been busy this week throughout the Rogue Valley. Monday, SOCET went to several addresses throughout Medford to follow-up on tips that child porn was uploaded from the locations. Tuesday morning, SOCET investigators along with Oregon State Police (OSP) detectives made an arrest after an eight-month long investigation into child exploitation imagery uploaded at a residence in Grants Pass. This morning, SOCET investigators along with Eagle Point Police Department (EPPD) patrol officers served a federal search warrant in Eagle Point.
Each case started after SOCET received tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that numerous images of child exploitation were uploaded from the residences.
Yesterday’s arrest stemmed from a NCMEC tip SOCET investigators received in the summer of 2021 that child exploitation images were uploaded at a residence on the 2300 block of Azalea Drive in Grants Pass. During the investigation a digital device was seized. While forensically examining the device, Southern Oregon High Tech Crimes Task Force detectives discovered more images of child exploitation, leading to additional charges. The suspect, Timothy Allen Beck, 25, of Grants Pass, was taken into custody and has been charged with five counts of encouraging child sexual abuse in the second degree. He was lodged in the Josephine County Jail on $100,000 bail.
This morning, SOCET investigators along with EPPD patrol officers served a federal search warrant at a residence on the 600 block of Teakwood Drive in Eagle Point. During today’s search warrant, digital devices were seized, and will be forensically examined by High Tech Crimes for further evidence of child exploitation. NCMEC tips started the investigation, which led to subpoenas, followed by the search warrant at the residence. Investigators are interviewing possible witnesses and involved parties, and investigations are ongoing.
SOCET is a joint inter-agency task force that started in June of 2020 to combat child exploitation and human trafficking. The task force consists of investigators from Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, OSP, Medford Police Department, Grants Pass Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Homeland Security Investigations; as well as prosecutors from local, state and federal law enforcement partners in Jackson and Josephine County.
Courtesy of JCSO
