Canadian County Sheriff's Office investigators made an arrest this week in a child pornography investigation that began last month. While child porn arrests are not unusual for the local Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force, they say that this particular case is a first for them in that both a husband and wife were arrested.
Undercover investigators received images of child pornography on a computer used to investigate the distribution of child porn. They tracked the originating IP address to a home in Oklahoma City.
After obtaining and executing a search warrant at the home, investigators seized cell phones, tablets, and laptops. They say their search revealed hundreds of images and videos of child pornography as well "an extensive collection of bestiality videos"--some of which also involved children.
Investigators arrested both Benjamin Webb, 33, and his wife Tiffany Webb, 34, on complaints of aggravated possession of child pornography and violation of the Oklahoma Computer Crimes Act.
Aggravated possession of child pornography is defined, prohibited, and penalized according to 21 O.S. § 1040.12a:
Any person who, with knowledge of its contents, possesses one hundred (100) or more separate materials depicting child pornography shall be, upon conviction, guilty of aggravated possession of child pornography. The violator shall be punished by imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Corrections for a term not exceeding life imprisonment and by a fine in an amount not more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00). The violator, upon conviction, shall be required to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offenders Registration Act.
Under this law, multiple copies of an identical image are each counted as a separate item. As noted in the statute, the maximum penalty for conviction of aggravated possession of child pornography is life in prison.
Under the Oklahoma Computer Crimes Act, it is illegal to use a computer or network to facilitate any state crime. Violation of the Oklahoma Computer Crimes Act is a separate and additional charge to the underlying crime. Each count is punishable by a maximum of 5 years in prison in addition to the sentence for the primary crime.
