A child pornography investigation that began in Garvin County almost three months ago has led to the discovery and rescue of two young children in Maryland who were being sexually exploited by their parents.
Garvin County Deputies assigned to work with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) began investigating the case in early April after receiving a cyber tip. That investigation led to the arrest of Warren Gilbert, 58, of Pauls Valley on April 13 for possession of child pornography.
During the investigation deputies found Gilbert had been part of a group of individuals sharing and viewing images through Zoom calls and cloud-based file-sharing services.
“As a result of his arrest we downloaded several of his electronic devices and identified a man in Baltimore, Maryland, by the name of Neal Patrick Garith, who was sponsoring the Zoom calls in which these videos of child pornography were being displayed,” Garvin County Assistant District Attorney Corey Miner said.
While the Sheriff’s office continued working to identify other individuals on those Zoom calls, Miner worked to pursue charges against Garith and extradite him back to Garvin County.
“I researched my ability to bring somebody from another state to Oklahoma and hold them accountable for crimes that have occurred in Oklahoma and felt that I was on good legal footing,” Miner said.
On June 2, charges were filed against Garith in Garvin County District Court for distribution of child pornography and violations of the Oklahoma computer crimes act and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Garvin County authorities notified the office of Homeland Security in Maryland they had a warrant for Garith. The Maryland State Police, with assistance from Baltimore Police and Homeland Security Investigations, arrested Garith at his home.
At that point, Baltimore authorities also opened their own investigation into Garith.
After forensically downloading Garith’s devices, Miner said Baltimore authorities found multiple videos, including one of two children, ages 3 and 5, being raped in the basement of a home in the Baltimore area.
“Garith didn’t know the location of the children but had an email where he had corresponded with the parents who had the children,” Miner said.
Maryland officials contacted the Garvin County Sheriff’s Department to ask for help in retrieving the email address from Gilbert’s computer. With that information the Maryland State Police contacted the internet service provider and were able to locate a physical address.
“They obtained a warrant, hit the house in the Baltimore area, and rescued the two children, who were tied up in the basement of the home,” Miner said.
The children were victims of sex-trafficking at the hands of their parents, according to Miner, who said Maryland authorities are continuing to work that case.
“It was just an awesome relief to know that we were able to get those children out of that situation and get them safe,” Garvin County Sheriff Jim Mullett said. “We’re hoping what the Baltimore authorities find is going to spider out and shut down more of those things, and we’re hoping to continue to do the same thing here.”
Garith was extradited to Garvin County last week and is being held in the Garvin County Detention Center on a $1 million bond. Gilbert is currently being held on a $250,000 bond. Both are charged with multiple counts including aggravated possession of child pornography, distribution of child pornography, conspiracy to possess child pornography and violation of the Oklahoma computer crimes act.
The Sheriff’s Office is continuing to investigate other individuals involved in the original case, and Miner said he has identified defendants in at least two other states he intends to file charges on and extradite back to Garvin County.
At the outset of the investigation Garvin County officials had no way of knowing the horrific things that would be uncovered but, Miner said, they knew pursuing the case as far as they could was worth it and that entailed thinking outside the box.
“It’s rare that state prosecutors charge and extradite people from other states. Typically, that’s the U.S. attorney’s office, with interstate crime and things of that nature. But we did the legal research and were able to identify case law and legal authority to do that,” Miner said. “A lot of prosecutors would have stopped with the guy in Garvin County that they arrested and said, ‘That’s Maryland’s problem.’ But we continued working it and got Garith charged, and as a result his phone was downloaded, the video found and the children rescued.”
Officials also contend without the good working relationship between the Garvin County Sheriff’s Office and the DA’s office, the cooperation of the multiple law enforcement agencies involved, and perhaps most importantly, the ICAC Task Force and the deputies assigned to those cases in Garvin County the outcome in this investigation would have been very different.
“They’re doing the Lord’s work down there. Jim Mullett is on it, as are the two forensic deputies he’s got down there,” Miner said. “Had they not done what they did, I wouldn’t have done what I did. Had we not worked together, we couldn’t have gotten Maryland on board. Had Maryland not done their job, we never would have found the kids. This is a super story about multiple state and federal agencies and prosecutors all combined, cooperating, and two kids rescued because of it.”
Mullett said he hopes the persistence and perseverance Garvin County has shown in investigating this case will offer inspiration for other agencies to follow suit, particularly small, rural agencies.
“We want to be able to set the bar. To be able to say, ‘We tackled this, and you can too.’ If we can make a dent to save two children, we’re going to fight with everything we can,” Mullett said. “I’m very, very proud of our office and the district attorney’s office. We’re not done yet. This is just the beginning of what we want to accomplish with these types of investigations.”