IDAHO GOES DOWN A 27-year-old local man has been taken into custody and charged with 21 child porn-related felonies.
Twelve felony counts of possessing child porn and eight felony counts of distributing child porn are the charges against Benjamin Kade Roach.
A investigator with Idaho’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force started looking into a cybertip from X (previously known as Twitter) in December 2024, according to court filings.
According to the cybertip, from July 2024 to January 2025, the account’s user was sharing child pornographic videos and experiencing conservations.
Another user received a message from the account in July 2024 saying, “I’d love to see you and your little sis recreate this.” Later, a video of child porn with girls aged 8 to 12 was delivered to the user by the account.
According to the paper, users would engage with the cybertip’s account and receive child porn.
The cybertip was used to obtain an IP address, and the internet service provider from which the address originated was subpoenaed.
The subpoena’s outcome included the account holder’s name and an address in Idaho Falls. It was the name of one of Roach’s relatives. The house also housed Roach.
More cybertips being filed on other X accounts led to the discovery of a second X account. The tips also included emails linked to these identities that shared obscene content and conversed using an anagram of Kade.
The kids, who were all girls, were seven to fifteen years old.
A traffic stop was made as Roach headed to work in Ucon on April 23 after the ICAC task force executed a search warrant on his home.
Roach was taken to the Idaho Falls Police Complex for an interview. According to court filings, Roach attested to the fact that the X accounts and emails belonged to him. He informed the detective that he thought his remarks on the social media app were the reason the accounts were closed.
The investigator told Roach that child porn was the reason the accounts were closed. Without knowing what it was, the man replied that he might have clicked on a link.
When asked about the cybertips of his accounts delivering child porn during the interview, Roach said he couldn’t recall.
Roach said that there might be child porn on his phone, but he wasn’t sure of the ages, when asked if he had any.
According to the document, Roach disputed that the transmitted photographs were of child porn and said he had no idea where the child porn originated.
When the police questioned the man about why he was on X, Roach replied that he was using the social media site for pornography. According to the affidavit, Roach acknowledged that he had gotten too involved in this type of pornography because of his addiction.
Thirteen pictures and videos of child porn featuring people ages one to fifteen were discovered during a check of the man’s phone and tablet.
Roach is expected to appear before Magistrate Judge John Dewey on July 2 at 1 p.m. for a preliminary hearing.
Roach may not have done these offenses, even if he has been charged with them. Until someone is proven guilty, they are all presumed innocent. He could spend up to 350 years behind bars if found guilty.
