'We’ve Arrested People Who Span Every Part of the Spectrum:' TPD’s Fight Against Child Predators

After the Tulsa Area Emergency Management Executive Director was charged with sending and receiving child pornography, we're taking a look at how law enforcement investigates these crimes.

Tulsa County Deputies arrested Joe Kralicek Thursday after a month-long investigation that started from a cyber tip.

Detectives with the Tulsa Police Department's SPIDER division tell News On 6 this case is just one of several they deal with every day. They get about ten tips a week and serve two to three search warrants a month.

SPIDER Division Handles Dozens of Tips

Detective Aubrey Williams with Tulsa Police Department's sexual predator investigations and digital evidence recovery, or SPIDER division, says there's not one kind of person that's a sexual predator -- it can be anyone.

"We've arrested people who span every part of the spectrum, you kno,w everybody who you know from from your homeless person. We've arrested people who make a lot of money. We've arrested people in their early 20s all the way up into their 70s," she said.

Her team collects digital evidence like cell phones, tablets and laptops from search warrants and takes that data back to their lab to review.

"We're definitely not like just taking these cell phones back to the office and just turning them on and just kind of thumbing through them. No. Everything that we have, everything that we do in our lab, we have to make sure that it's replicable," she said.

Technology Makes Investigations Tougher

Williams says advances in technology make their work harder, and predators in Oklahoma often get child sex abuse material from across the country.

"We work very, very closely with Homeland Security Investigations to be able to prosecute a lot of our cases federally," she said.

K9 Helps Find Hidden Evidence

But they have some help. K9 officers like Ripley help officers find electronic evidence that suspects try to hide.

"She is trained to sniff out a chemical that's used in the manufacture of electronic storage devices, so she can find anything as small as a micro SD card, all the way up to like computer tower or thumb drive."

Nearly 25 Children Rescued This Year

Williams says it can be difficult working with this kind of material daily, but rescuing victims makes it worth it.

"We've had almost 25 live child rescues this year, and to know that we're out there making a difference in these kids lives and changing their lives for the better. Man, there's just nothing like it," she said.

Williams emphasized these types of investigations take time, and while she understands people want to see progress quickly, she says her team investigates thoroughly so they can present the best case possible.

Kralicek is out on bond.

Related Story: Tulsa Area Emergency Management Director posts bond following arrest on child pornography charges