Lawrence County Zephyr
MORGAN COUNTY - (December 3, 20210 - An investigation that began on October 27, 2021, by Trooper Robert Whyte resulted in an arrest yesterday in Morgan County. The investigation came to light when Trp. Whyte received a National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) cyber tip. NCMEC operates a Cyber Tipline which was established by the United States Congress to process reports of child sexual exploitation and shares that information with appropriate law enforcement agencies. NCMEC received a report from the social media app Instagram, which identified a video of suspected child pornography that had been shared by an Unknown user.
After a lengthy investigation and multiple search warrants to multiple different businesses, Trooper Whyte identified the unknown user as Brian P. Dent of Paragon. On Thursday, December 2, 2021, a search warrant was served on Mr. Dent’s residence. Electronics were seized and searched, along with an interview of Brian Dent was completed. After conferring with the Morgan County Prosecutors office, Brian Dent was arrested and transported to the Morgan County Sheriff's Department where he was released to jail staff.
Brian P. Dent was charged with the following, one (1) Count of Distribution of Child Pornography, Level 4 Felony, two (2) Counts of Possession of Child Pornography: child under the age of 12, Level 5 Felony, seven (7) Counts of Possession of Child Pornography, Level 6 Felony, One (1) Count of Distribution of matter harmful to minors, Level 6 Felony.
Assisting ISP units: Troopers Sam Gillespie, Cody Brown, Randall Van Arsdale, and Internet Crimes Against Children Detectives.
Assisting Outside Agencies: Lawrence County Prosecutors Office and Morgan County Prosecutors Office.
An arrest photo may be obtained from the Morgan County Jail.
