A Grosse Pointe Farms resident, Rommel Callos Baltazar, has been apprehended by the FBI for possession of 722,000 child pornography files, thanks to crypto transactions that revealed his activities. The 44-year-old was charged on July 24 after authorities linked him to child pornographic content through cryptocurrency transactions.
How Crypto Transactions Exposed Baltazar
The FBI initially discovered Baltazar’s involvement during an investigation into a child pornography seller. They identified a cryptocurrency account that had made three transactions totaling $750 to the seller between March 27 and April 3 of the previous year.
Further details about the account, including Baltazar’s social security number, birthday, driver’s license, and address, were obtained on April 22, 2023. This information led to a search of his home almost a year later, where several electronic devices were seized.
The Evidence Uncovered
Upon reviewing Baltazar’s laptop, officials found 690,000 images and 32,000 videos depicting girls aged 14 to 19 engaged in sexual acts. The content was meticulously organized into hundreds of folders, each labeled with the name and age of the individual depicted.
Investigators found that the materials on Baltazar’s devices matched those of the seller, further corroborating his involvement. Records also showed that Baltazar visited the seller’s site 89 times between March 27 and October 8, 2023. The last accessed date of the content was April 4, just a day after his final crypto transaction to the seller.
The Ongoing Issue of Crypto and Child Pornography
The case of Baltazar underscores the growing concern of cryptocurrencies being used to facilitate the trade of child sexual abuse material. The International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC), in collaboration with Standard Chartered, has published a report on the trend and its implications.
Crypto tracking firm Chainalysis has noted that abusers are becoming increasingly sophisticated, using tools like “mixers” and “private coins” to anonymize their transactions and evade detection. This case highlights the crucial role of law enforcement and crypto tracking in combating such crimes.
