Alleged perpetrator worked as dispatcher at the Hardin County E-911 Center
FRANKFORT, KY. – 
Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear announced on Friday January 18, 2019 that a 20-year-old Elizabethtown man has been arrested and charged with more than 150 counts of sex crimes by the AG’s Cyber Crimes Unit.
Christopher James Carroll, who worked as a dispatcher at the Hardin County E-911 Center, is currently housed in the Hardin County Detention Center on a $100,000 bond after Beshear’s cyber investigators teamed with the United States Secret Service, the Hardin County Sheriff’s office and the Elizabethtown Police Department to make today’s arrest.
Beshear said Carroll is facing multiple charges – nine counts of use of a minor under the age of 16 in a sexual performance; 50 counts of use of a minor under the age of 18 in a sexual performance; 100 counts of possessing matter portraying a minor in a sexual performance; six counts of harassing communications and two counts of second-degree stalking.
Beshear said Carroll’s arrest stems from an investigation that began in September 2018. According to cyber investigators, Carroll allegedly created multiple false social media profiles in an effort to communicate and deceive minors to obtain nude images.
“The attorney general is the chief advocate and protector for our Kentucky families, and it’s our job to ensure our communities are safe by taking off the streets anyone who would actively seek to sexually abuse any child,” Beshear said. “I appreciate the hard work of our cyber investigators and the work of the United States Secret Service, the Hardin County Sheriff’s office and the Elizabethtown Police Department on this case.”
The Cyber Crimes Unit is part of the Kentucky Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force that works to reduce the number of child predators going after Kentucky’s most vulnerable children.
With the ever-changing cyber landscape, the unit is dedicated to educating its detectives on the most current techniques and technologies to keep pace with those seeking to harm children.
The Office of the Attorney General also makes it a priority to educate law enforcement, prosecutors, parents, children and caregivers on the dangers of the internet.
To help keep children safe online, the office has collaborated with Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky to offer statewide trainings.
Beshear said the trainings offer a free Internet Safety Toolkit, which he said every Kentuckian could access online to obtain information that can protect children from cyber bullying to online predators.
Report any instance of child abuse to local law enforcement or to Kentucky’s Child Abuse hotline at 877-597-2331 or 877-KYSAFE1.
