CyberTip leads to arrest of Athens man for child porn

ATHENS – Our news partner, KETK, reports that a cyber tip submitted to the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office has led to the arrest of a 20-year-old, who allegedly confessed to being in possession of child pornography.

According to the arrest affidavit obtained from the sheriff’s office, around 9:24 a.m. on Feb. 26, a Henderson County officer was assigned a CyberTip for an investigation by the North Texas Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Two minutes later, that tip escalated due to the risk of new child sexual abuse material being produced.

The report listed a total of 17 files including, eight which appeared to be self produced and four that were listed “as an AI classification.” Eleven of those files were listed as “pubescent minor engaging in a sexual act”, and one file was listed as a “pubescent minor in lascivious exhibition”.

On Feb. 27, the officer requested a subpoena to People’s Communication Inc., Optimum, Google, and MediaLab.ai (Kik) to provide subscriber information for the suspect’s IP address. This subpoena eventually led officials to a home in Athens where the user of the Kik account was sending child pornography to other users, the affidavit stated.

“There is chat between the suspect and another person were they discuss child pornography and hoping to have sex with children one day,” the affidavit said. “Throughout the chats with other like-minded users, the suspect discusses child pornography throughout the chat log.”

Within the content, officers found a photo of a subject showing his private parts, and in the background was his face. Officers identified him as Alexander James Kallus, 20 of Athens.

Around 1:55 p.m. on March 18, officers learned from Verizon that the device being used is a black Apple iPhone. The phone number was shown to return to Kallus. On March 28, officers searched the home in Athens, and located Kallus lying in bed next to the Apple iPhone where officers found a child pornography video.

Officers viewed the file and “observed it to depict a female victim, who appears to be no older than six years of age,” the affidavit said.

During the interview, Kallus reportedly admitted to having child pornography on his cellphone and computer. “The suspect said he has been looking at child pornography for years, and that there are children in the child pornography that are around five years of age,” the document said.

Kallus was booked into the Henderson County Jail on March 28 for five counts of possession of child pornography with a bond totaling $500,000.