Kansas man indicted for child pornography following HSI, joint law enforcement partner investigation

WICHITA, Kan. – A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging a Kansas man with child pornography crimes following a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), joint law enforcement partner probe.

Walter Haskin, 27, of Cottonwood Falls, was indicted on one count of attempted distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. According to a criminal complaint, the Kansas Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force launched an investigation after Dropbox submitted a tip through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children hotline indicating the file sharing service said it had detected child pornography uploaded to an account.

HSI, the Kansas ICAC, and the Wichita Police Department are investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Molly Gordon and Jason Hart are prosecuting the case. An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Learn more about HSI’s mission to combat child exploitation in your community, on Twitter @HSIKansasCity.

Project Safe Childhood

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.

Homeland Security Investigations

HSI is the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel, and finance move. HSI’s workforce of over 10,400 employees consists of more than 6,800 special agents assigned to 225 cities throughout the United States, and 86 overseas locations in 55 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.