By BOB MARTIN
Eagle Times Staff
A new hire in the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office is helping the region solve internet crimes against children, and Sheriff Jayson Almstrom told the county commissioners that he is an expert in his field that provides a wealth of resources.
Eric Bates, who is a retired detective sergeant from the Hanover Police Department and detective for the Grafton County Sheriff’s Office, was hired in February when there was an opening in the sheriff’s office after a part-time deputy turned in his cruiser.
“Eric is an expert in the ICAT cases, which is the internet crimes against children,” Almstrom said during Monday’s Sullivan County Commissioners meeting. “He is basically the guy who does all the search warrants. He’s the guy who does all the interviews. He was a polygraph examiner, so he’s well versed in these types of detections and crimes.”
The hiring of Bates goes well beyond filling a personnel slot, as he brings along two partners, Eric James and Justin Coombs, who work for the Lincoln Police Department and are federally funded.
“I have those two sworn in as deputies, so they have statewide jurisdiction,” Almstrom said. “They also have a K-9, which we have access to now.”
Watson, a black lab who is an electronic detection dog, has already been used locally in an ICAT case in Newport involving a young teenage girl.
“When they do search warrants on these houses and there are electronic devices, they might be hidden,” Almstrom said. “The dog can actually go in and sniff around like a drug dog and find these.”
In the Newport case, Watson entered the residence, sniffed around and flipped over a couch cushion to find an iPad. The offender in this case is from Tennessee, Almstrom said, and the sheriff’s office is partnering with Newport because their department has someone to process digital evidence and do electronic lab work.
“We basically got this internet crimes against children team together at no cost whatsoever to the county, and we can use it for Charlestown PD, we can use it for Langdon, we can use it for any town.”
Almstrom explained that the whole team comes together and works with the local police departments to show them how to process these cases. He said this is vital for important cases, so everything is done correctly, and in time “they’ll know exactly what to do.”
“This is going to keep the citizens and children of Sullivan County safe,” Almstrom said.
Commissioner Bennie Nelson was pleased to hear about the collaboration and asked how they get the word out to the towns in the county about their resources.
“I went to the chief of police meeting and basically all the chiefs know that we have this,” he said. “Officer Josh Wade, one of my deputies, is the officer in charge in Langdon. So, everybody knows. State Police knows; they have their own ICAT investigators, as well.”
He added, “We have this capability, this team, ready to come together and take care of the situation immediately.”
