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IDAHO FALLS — A 29-year-old Bonneville County man has been arrested for possessing child sexual abuse material.
Craig Allen Dietz was charged with three counts of sexual exploitation of a child on Wednesday.
Detectives with the Idaho Crimes Against Children task force received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and, on June 9, opened an investigation. The tips pointed towards Snapchat, WhatsApp, and Discord accounts suspected of containing child sexual abuse material, according to court documents.
Detectives viewed the suspected files and accounts and found several files containing child sexual abuse material. The accounts in question were then allegedly linked to Dietz via his IP address, a phone number, and an email account associated with him.
In addition to the alleged files containing the child sexual abuse material, detectives also found multiple chats where Dietz was posing as a 14-year-old and attempting to “trade” sexually exploitative material with other users, some of whom detectives suspect were minors, documents allege.
In addition, the officers discovered Dietz had been charged on July 5 with misdemeanor sexual battery for allegedly assaulting a 19-year-old at the Grand Teton Mall in Idaho Falls.
Officers concluded they had enough probable cause to link Dietz to the accounts containing the child sexual abuse material and obtained a search warrant for Dietz’s residence.
On Wednesday, officers located and detained Dietz for questioning.
During interviews with officers, Dietz allegedly confirmed ownership of the email account included in the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children tip. Documents state he also confessed to using Snapchat, Discord, and his cell phone to upload child sexual abuse material. In addition, Dietz admitted to posing as a 14-year-old in an attempt to attract other teenagers.
If found guilty of the charges, Dietz may face up to 30 years in prison and may be required to pay a fine of up to $30,000.
Dietz has been appointed a public defender, and the Idaho State Public Defender’s Office does not comment on active cases.
Dietz is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on July 29.
Although Dietz has been accused of these crimes, that does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
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