National exploited children group bestows 'Excellence' award to local detective
By Debbie Lowe Staff writer

Mullin

Most Carroll County citizens who read about court cases in the Comet probably believe the situations depicted in the stories are confined to the boundaries of the county. However, this is not always the case. There are times when Carroll County happenings have farreaching effects.

Because of his hard work and intense investigative skills, Carroll County Sheriff Detective Steve Mullin was awarded a letter of commendation by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) for his work on the Leon Sprinkle and Keith Munson cases, which involved crimes of a sexual nature against children.

NCMEC applauded the sheriff's office for their "willingness and enthusiasm to share information" with the national group. Signed by Exploited Child Unit Director Michelle Collins, the letter said, "The ECU's knowledge that the child in your area has been identified may aid in the future conviction of child pornographers worldwide."

"We serve as a clearinghouse for United States law enforcement officers to know which victims have been rescued and which have not," Collins told the Comet Tuesday.

She explained Child Victim Identification Program analysts look at submitted images of child victims and help local law enforcement officials determine appropriate jurisdictions. Collins said her office received approximately 113,000 images and videos last week alone.

"We act as a point of contact for police officers," she explained. "We identify and locate Internet victims and provide technical assistance. We also compile images for future reference."

"I hope we don't have anyone else in the community who gets into this sort of thing," Mullin said.

He advised anyone who has engaged in downloading or uploading pornography to stop participating in the activity…or never become involved.

"People think if this happens in the confines of their own home that nobody is watching, but they are," he continued. "I think people who download pornography don't think about the police coming and knocking on their doors. But they do - we did."