When a person or organization wants to run their own website, unless they have a large technology staff and resources, they use a web hosting company to provide the resources, while they are able to add and delete content and maintain the site’s look and direction. The most well known of these companies is Go Daddy, but there are hundreds more providing this service, such as Just Host, Bluehost, Web.com and more. An employee at one of these types of companies, who was not identified, saw that one of their hosted sites contained images of child pornography, and immediately contacted the United States Department of Homeland Security, Cybercrimes Division.
On June 5 of this year, according to the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, an agent from the D.H.S. contacted the Sheriff, because the web host had identified an I.P. (Internet Protocol) address for the suspected website manager as being located in Arcata, California.
Arcata is a coastal town in far northern California, just outside of Eureka. It is known as the home of Humboldt State University, and has a population below 20,000. The IP address was tracked to a resident, 64-year-old Christopher Steven Haynes. According to his Facebook profile, Haynes is a geography lecturer at the university.
A Sheriff’s Detective was assigned to the case, and obtained a search warrant for Haynes, his home, and computer. The warrant was served on July 10 with the assistance of agents from the F.B.I., Humboldt State University Police, and the Arcata Police. They seized Haynes’ computer, along with an additional thumb drive and hard disk, which Haynes handed over. A D.A.’s office investigator conducted a forensic examination of the material, and found thousands of images and videos of child pornography.
After the examination and evidence was collected, an arrest warrant was issued for Haynes, and he was taken into custody today at noon. He was booked into Humboldt County Jail on charges of possession of matter depicting a minor engaging or simulating sexual conduct, sending or duplicating sexual content involving a minor, exchanging or distributing content involving sexual content of a minor, and sexual exploitation of a child. Bail was set at $100,000. Anyone with information regarding this case is encouraged to call the Sheriff’s Office at 707-445-7251, or the tip line at 707-268-2539.
