Police, internet crimes task force search for evidence Wednesday

LACONIA — Detectives are searching for evidence in an internet crime case, and executed a search warrant at a Webster Street home on Wednesday afternoon.

Police Chief Matt Canfield said his department’s detective unit was working with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force on a search of the property at 2:48 p.m. on May 27. The address of the residence was not available.

“We were not looking for people at the location,” Canfield said. “We were looking for evidence.”

Canfield said this investigation is “a number of weeks” in the making.

“The investigation is far from complete, and it can be a branching road,” Canfield said.

Residents wrote on social media they saw unmarked police vehicles lining Webster Street just before 5 p.m. on May 27, and by 5:40 p.m., there were none to be seen. There were reports of officers with guns drawn. Canfield did not know about that, because he was not at the scene, but said it was “certainly a possibility,” given the nature of the investigation.

Canfield did not have information about whether anyone was home at the time, and he could not disclose what, if anything, was recovered from the search.

He said the case appears to be an isolated scenario, but is something detectives have investigated before in the city.

“At this time, this is a singular case, although we work these cases fairly regularly,” Canfield said.

The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force was created in 1998, after internet usage by children and teenagers began to increase, and images of child sex abuse and people trying to exploit children was increasing, according to the program’s website.

There are 61 ICAC task forces, made up of more than 5,500 federal, state, local and tribal law officers across the country, including Laconia detectives. They are trained to respond to any technology-based crime involving children.

“It is something we have seen for a long time, and not unusual for a community of this size. Today’s technology makes it easier to commit these types of crimes,” Canfield said.

Canfield said there is no reason to believe there is a threat to the public, and did not have information about whether charges will be filed soon. None have been filed so far.