Google cybertip led to arrest of Hilo man for allegedly uploading 800 images of child pornography
The 44-year-old man appeared in Hilo District Court on charges of second- and third- degree promotion of child abuse and second-degree promotion of a detrimental drug.
A man from Hilo is facing child abuse charges after a cybertip to police reported he had uploaded more than 800 images of child pornography to Google Photos.
On Thursday, 44-year-old Chetwynd Clyde Sanborn, Jr. appeared in Hilo District Court on charges of second-degree promotion of child abuse, third-degree promotion of child abuse and second-degree promotion of a detrimental drug. The judge denied his request for supervised release, maintaining bail at $30,500.
Charges stem from an investigation into Sanborn after Hawai‘i Island police received a cybertip from Google LLC through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on June 22, where the internet browser detected that a user with the name of “Kaliko Sanborn” had uploaded 866 files to Google Photos on a mobile phone that were believed to be “child sexual abuse material,” according to a news release from the Hawaiʻi Island Police Department.
“Google provided 10 Internet Protocol (IP) addresses for a time period that spanned from approximately 06/17/2015 to 05/25/2026 for uploading the previously mentioned files,” according to court documents.
Hawai‘i Island police investigators reviewed the files provided by Google, where they observed in excess of 700 files that depicted nude children and juveniles engaged in sex acts. According to court documents, 75 of the files depict boys and girls under the age of 12.
On Oct. 21, officers executed search warrants at a residence in Hilo on Laukapu Street and found Sanborn was the only resident.
Officers located a Samsung phone on the bed and called the phone number, and the phone was observed to ring. After a manual examination of the phone, court documents indicate that two images on the phone depict child pornography.
“These two images appear to be the same images that I observed in the Google Photo search warrant return,” an investigator stated in court documents.
Also found in the apartment was a green leafy substance that appeared to be marijuana with a net weight of 34.97 grams (in excess of one ounce).
Sanborn is ordered to appear for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 26.
The most serious offense Sanborn faces is the second-degree promotion of child abuse, which is a class B felony and carries a penalty of either a 10-year prison term or five years’ probation and up to 18 months in jail.
The third-degree promotion of child abuse charge is a class C felony offense which carries a penalty of either a five-year prison term or five years’ probation and up to 12 months in jail.
The second-degree promotion of a detrimental drug is a misdemeanor offense and carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail.
