TULSA, Okla. — Tulsa Police Department's elite Sexual Predator Investigations/Digital Evidence Recovery Unit or (SPDR) unit, has rescued more than 30 children from sexual predators this year alone, demonstrating the critical importance of specialized law enforcement units in combating online child exploitation.
The five-officer SPDR unit, as it's known, focuses exclusively on investigating sexual predators who target and exploit children through social media and other online platforms.
Their work begins with disturbing tips from across the country and requires painstaking digital forensics to track down suspects.
"Our main role is to investigate sexual predators who target and exploit children online through social media and other online avenues," Lt. Mark Kraft said.
The unit's investigations often start with cyber tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, alerting them to individuals sharing child sexual abuse material online.
From there, detectives carefully extract evidence from phones, computers and hard drives while tracking IP addresses and social media accounts.
"We initially received a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children saying that a person in Tulsa was sharing child sexual abuse material online," Kraft said.
In this most recent case, their investigation led to Thomas Albertson, who fled to Arkansas after bonding out of jail to avoid his court appearance.
However, his escape attempt was short-lived.
"His father had already picked him up because his truck had broken down and they were already on their way back to Tulsa and so he was actually arrested here in front of the Tulsa County Courthouse as he was going to turn himself in," Kraft said.
The SPDR unit arrests 3 to 5 predators each month, but their most meaningful accomplishment remains the 30 children they've rescued this year.
The moment of rescue provides immediate relief for victims who have often endured abuse in the homes of predators.
"You can just see the relief on their face especially if they've been in the home of an abuser or a predator and they've been abused themselves. I mean it's just immediate relief," Kraft said.
Beyond investigations and rescues, the unit also conducts internet safety presentations for local churches, schools and community organizations to help prevent future victimization.
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