A Durango man found in possession of thousands of images and hundreds of videos of suspected child pornography is being held at the La Plata County Jail.
La Plata County Sheriff’s Office investigators arrested Lucas Schoepke, 36, after an investigator with the Internet Crimes Against Children task force told local law enforcement he had found possible child pornography being downloaded through an internet protocol address associated with a home in the 200 block of Wood Crest Drive, according to arresting documents.
An internet protocol address, or IP address, is a numerical label assigned for the purpose of identifying an electronic device that accesses the internet.
The Internet Crimes Against Children task force investigator collected information downloaded to the IP address associated with the Wood Crest Drive home as well as records from Charter Communications showing the same IP address connected with an account registered at the Wood Crest Drive house.
Sheriff’s Office investigators searched the Wood Crest Drive home and found an HP laptop in a bedroom Schoepke had been renting. Law enforcement also seized a black ZTE cellphone Schoepke had on his person.
A search of the devices revealed 1,425 images and 161 videos of suspected child pornography on a hard drive in the laptop with the user name “Lucas” and 400 images and 15 videos of suspected child pornography on the cellphone.
Schoepke is scheduled to appear May 30 at the La Plata County Courthouse.
bhauff@durangoherald.com