NEWS

In July 2022, Task Force Dawnbreaker launched a proactive online Peer-to-Peer (P2P) investigation and identified a computer in Ketchikan actively sharing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) with other users. Further investigation led to 46-year-old Brandon McGuffey from Ketchikan as the suspect. McGuffey had previously been arrested in 2014 during an Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) investigation, facing charges of 30 counts of possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material. At the time of the investigation, McGuffey was on probation with a condition prohibiting him from accessing the internet or devices with internet capabilities.

In September 2022, Task Force Dawnbreaker traveled to Ketchikan to interview McGuffey and execute several search warrants. Although McGuffey denied owning computers or having Wi-Fi access, investigators discovered a hidden Wi-Fi router and multiple devices McGuffey had concealed before law enforcement arrived. He was arrested on ten counts of distribution of child sexual abuse material and fifteen counts of possession of child sexual abuse material, and was remanded to the Ketchikan Department of Corrections Facility.

On March 14, 2024, McGuffey entered a change of plea and accepted a plea deal from the Office of Special Prosecution. The deal included a sentence of thirty-five years, with fifteen years suspended, resulting in a total of twenty years to serve.

Task Force Dawnbreaker is a joint online child exploitation unit comprising the Alaska State Troopers’ Technical Crime Unit (TCU) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). It is an affiliate of the Alaska Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, which is part of the National ICAC network, a group of sixty-one coordinated task forces across the country. These agencies work together on proactive and reactive investigations into child abuse and exploitation.

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