Over the past several months, investigators from the Kokomo Police Department, Howard County Sheriff’s Office, and Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department have been conducting a joint child exploitation investigation after receiving (3) CyberTips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. These investigators are assigned to the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
During the investigation, probable cause was developed, and a Search Warrant was requested for a residence in the 1500 block of Tedlee Drive, Kokomo.
On June 17th, at approximately 8:00AM, the Search Warrant was executed by officers and investigators from the Kokomo Police Department, Howard County Sheriff’s Office, and Indiana State Police. KPD’s new Electronic Detection K9 Gelid was also utilized. As a result of the investigation, search, and interview, 40-year-old Thomas D. Cook of Kokomo was arrested and transported to the Howard County Criminal Justice Center.
Thomas has been preliminarily charged with Child Exploitation, Level 4 Felony, and Possession of Child Pornography, Level 5 Felony. The investigation is still on-going.
The Kokomo Police Department encourages citizens to report any information regarding child exploitation, solicitation, and enticement-type crimes against children to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children via the CyberTipLine at http://report.cybertip.org or phone at 1-800-THE LOST.
All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.