COLUMBIA, S.C. (WACH) — Two new K-9s are joining South Carolina investigators in a different kind of search — one aimed at finding hidden technology that could contain evidence of child sexual abuse.On Friday, the dogs, Hunter and Rocky, officially received their badges, clearing them to help investigators track down electronic devices that may be used to store sexually explicit material, including child pornography.“They will search for electronic devices that may potentially store sexually explicit content and particularly child pornography,” said Jake Gadsden, director of the South Carolina Department of Parole, Probation and Pardon Services.The department supervises almost 1,000 registered sex offenders, and many are repeat offenders.Defenders for Children and Greenville’s Riverside High School raised $25,000 per dog to donate the K-9s to the state. The dogs are trained to sniff out hidden electronic storage devices — including USB drives and micro SD cards — that could contain evidence of child abuse.“Law enforcement agencies can’t do it alone. We all have to step up together and make the change. And it starts now because right now a child is hurting very bad and nobody’s listening,” said Toni Clark, CEO of Defenders for Children.Clark said offenders can go to extreme lengths to conceal devices.“We’ve seen devices in walls, we’ve seen them in the attics, we see where people will go into the mattresses and sew them up inside there. You name it,” Clark said. Some devices have even been hidden in items as small as fake coins.Hunter and Rocky spent months training at a facility in Indiana to detect a specific chemical associated with electronic storage devices, known as TPPC. Their specialized training is expected to give investigators another tool to locate hidden evidence and help protect children.
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