Vancouver police arrested a Vancouver man suspected of possessing child pornography following a monthslong investigation.
Darrell Leonard Velasco, 61, was arrested Friday on suspicion of possessing and viewing child pornography and possession of methamphetamine and cocaine.
Velasco made a first appearance Monday in Clark County Superior Court.
According to a probable cause statement filed with the court, Google sent an automated message in October to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which maintains a tip line to detect and prevent trafficking of child pornography over the internet.
The center forwards those reports to law enforcement agencies. One such tip was forwarded to the Vancouver Police Department’s Digital Evidence Cybercrime Unit.
Using data from Google’s report, investigators linked identifying information to Velasco. To get more information, they applied for, and received, a warrant to search his information with Google, CenturyLink, Facebook and T-Mobile.
The search yielded communications between Velasco and others regarding sharing child pornography, along with chatter from others trying to secure drugs, the police said in court records.
Officers searched his home, in the 10000 block of Northeast 21st Street, in the Burton Ridge neighborhood, last Friday.
In a recorded interview after his arrest, Velasco told officers the messages the investigators found were his, and that he once kept a collection of child pornography.
He also admitted to occasionally supplying street drugs to close associates, according to court records. He directed officers to a cabinet in his home, where they found items that tested positive for cocaine and methamphetamine.
Velasco is being held on $35,000 bail. His arraignment was scheduled for May 19.
