ICE smartphone app leads to arrest of fugitive child predator suspect in Northern Minnesota

GRAND FORKS, N.D. — A federal fugitive since 2009, who was listed on a smartphone app created by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), made his initial appearance in federal court Monday after his arrest Wednesday on charges of sexually exploiting children.

This fugitive was arrested by the Red Lake Indian Reservation tribal police on a federal warrant for ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Adney Allen, 51, was arrested late on Nov. 26 after a tipster notified local police of his fugitive status. The tipster indicated Allen was living in a trailer in a remote wooded area, on reservation lands, near Redby, Minnesota. He was held by the Beltrami County (Minnesota) Sheriff's Office in Bemidji, Minnesota, until he was turned over to HSI special agents Nov. 28.

The tipster apparently learned of Allen's fugitive status via the online media surrounding the October launch of ICE's Operation Predator app for Android smartphones.

"This fugitive was arrested after being on the run for nearly six years," said Special Agent in Charge J. Michael Netherland of HSI St. Paul. "HSI and our law enforcement partners work together to aggressively pursue suspected child predators and bring them to justice wherever they are."

In July 2009, Allen was indicted by a federal grand jury in Fargo, North Dakota, for possessing, distributing and receiving child pornography. Allen has been considered a fugitive since leaving the area before the grand jury returned an indictment against him. He was one of the fugitives featured on ICE's Operation Predator application for smartphones.

ICE created its smartphone app – the first of its kind in U.S. federal law enforcement – to seek the public's help with fugitive and unknown suspect child predators. ICE's smartphone app has been downloaded nearly 130,000 times since its initial launch in September 2013. It has aided in the arrest of at least four other suspected child predators.

In the weeks following the Android-version launch of the smartphone app in October 2014, Allen's fugitive status was widely reported as one of 13 individuals sought by HSI for sexually exploiting children. The tipster alerted local authorities to Allen's presence on the federal reservation, and tribal police took him into custody.

Red Lake Nation

Red Lake Nation is a federally recognized Indian reservation, and is among the completely sovereign reservations in the United States. Red Lake is the only closed reservation in Minnesota. According to their website, the tribal government has the right to limit who can visit or live on the reservation and has full sovereignty over the reservation, subject only to federal legislation specifically intended for Red Lake, which makes it a closed reservation.

Operation Predator

This investigation was conducted under HSI's Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 12,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2014, more than 2,000 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.