- The FBI took DeKalb County Police Sgt. Cameron Livsey into custody after Coinbase pointed out cryptocurrency transactions with connection to dark web sites housing child sexual abuse material.
- Agents found a Tor browser with bookmarked child abuse sites on his phone during a search at police headquarters, including one called “Pedohub.”
- Atlanta police are separately seeking the public’s help in locating 14-year-old Ahnylah Robertson, who has been missing since Sunday night.
A law enforcement officer who stands to protect the public now stands before the legal repercussions for allegedly using the same dark web tools he stood against.
The FBI busted Sgt. Cameron Livsey (DeKalb County Police) on Thursday, April 30, because he looked into images of minors exposed to sexual abuse. A cryptocurrency exchange tipped off investigators and set the entire case in motion.
Coinbase Flags the Officer
Coinbase, a major cryptocurrency exchange, alerted the FBI that one of its users had purchased access to child sexual abuse material online. Livsey’s name and photo appeared on the account. According to Coinbase’s confirmation to investigators, no reports existed of the account at risk or hacked by a third party.
An FBI agent traced one of the transactions, worth roughly $39, to a dark web site flagged by the Internet Watch Foundation for hosting child sexual abuse material. The site operated through Tor, a network that routes user traffic through a globally distributed chain of relay computers, stripping away conventional methods of identifying users by their IP addresses.
An undercover FBI agent later accessed the site and confirmed it contained child sexual abuse images. The site offered a $40 monthly subscription for access, with many of the images featuring young children. According to the affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, Livsey’s $39 transaction appeared consistent with purchasing that monthly membership.
Investigators also connected him to a second dark web site. He allegedly spent $32 worth of cryptocurrency to access child sexual abuse material on that platform as well.
The Livsey case is just one example of a growing enforcement trend. A Minnesota man is facing similar charges after allegedly purchasing dark web child abuse material, showing how cryptocurrency tracing is helping law enforcement identify offenders nationwide.
FBI Executes Search at Police Headquarters
On April 30, FBI agents executed a search warrant on Livsey at 1960 W. Exchange Pl. in Tucker, Georgia, the address of DeKalb County Police Department headquarters. During the search, Livsey mentioned to the agents that his partner and their daughter who is a year old stayed with him.
Agents took away his mobile phone and immediately found a Tor application installed on the device. The app contained several bookmarked websites, including one named “Pedohub.” An agent accessed the bookmarked site directly and confirmed it displayed child sexual abuse images. The phone also stored a bookmark for one of the dark web sites Livsey allegedly paid to access.
DeKalb police officials have since launched a full internal investigation into the officer’s conduct and are actively cooperating with the FBI throughout the process.
Atlanta Police Search for Missing 14-Year-Old
In a separate and still-developing case, Atlanta police are calling on the public for help in locating a teenage girl classified as a critical missing person.
The last time someone saw the girl Ahnylah Robertson (14 years old) was around 10 p.m. on Sunday near Bellemeade Avenue NW. According to her mother, she didn’t take permission before leaving the area.
Police got in touch with Ahnylah for the last time around 2 p.m. Monday. During that conversation, she indicated that nobody held her against her will. Further investigation, however, determined that nobody abducted her and that no one is holding her against her will, according to police.
Ahnylah stands 4 feet 10 inches tall and weighs 95 pounds. She remains missing. Anyone with information about her location should call 911 or contact the Atlanta Police Homicide/Adult Missing Persons Unit at (404) 546-4235.
