As the crackdown on the exploitation of children in Alaska continues, state authorities have busted another individual for possession of child pornography. The perpetrator, a 32-year-old man from Cooper Landing, was arrested on Thursday, Feb. 29 following a month-long investigation that began with a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
In Jan. 2024, Task Force Dawnbreaker received a National Center for Missing and Exploited Children CyberTip report that originated from a child pornography investigation in the state of Virginia. During the investigation, a target suspect from Alaska was discovered to have been sharing child pornography with the Virginia suspect.
A Task Force Dawnbreaker investigation in Alaska revealed that the suspect was 32-year-old Joshua Hooten of Cooper Landing.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) agents, along with Alaska Bureau of Investigation Technical Crimes Unit (TCU) investigators located Hooten in Anchorage on Thursday.
“Hooten was found to have child pornography on his devices in his possession,” said Alaska State Troopers Communications Director, Austin McDaniel. “He was arrested without incident on one count of Possession of Child Pornography and transported to the Anchorage Jail where he was remanded with no bail. The Alaska State Troopers’ investigation into this incident is ongoing, and more charges are expected.”
The investigation also received assistance from the Alaska State Trooper Anchorage Airport Interdiction Team.
Task Force Dawnbreaker is a joint online child exploitation unit consisting of the Alaska State Troopers TCU, and HSI, and is an affiliate of the Alaska Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC). The Alaska ICAC is part of the National ICAC which is a network of sixty-one (61) coordinated task forces representing over 4,500 federal, state, and local law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies. These agencies are continually engaged in proactive and reactive investigations and prosecutions of persons involved in child abuse and exploitation involving the internet.