A Sequatchie County man has been arrested in a state investigation after authorities received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Richard W. Cooper, 72, of Dunlap, is charged with sexual exploitation of a minor and is being held without bond, according to a press release from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The state agency launched the investigation in May after receiving a tip from the center and assigned the case to the state agency’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
The tip referred to child sexual abuse material, the press release said, and during the course of the investigation, agents learned Cooper allegedly uploaded the material onto Microsoft’s Bing image service.
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In late August, state agents, the Dunlap Police Department, the Drug Task Force and the FBI executed a search warrant at Cooper’s residence, and he was taken into custody without incident and charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a minor.
Cooper was booked into the Sequatchie County Jail, where he is being held without bond.
According to an affidavit filed in the case, the tip from the national center was sent to a TBI agent after the image of a child, believed to be 11 to 13 years old, was uploaded May 13 to Bing. A subpoena was obtained July 2 for the IP address of the user who allegedly uploaded the image, and the address of the service came back to Cooper’s home on Dogwood Lane on the south end of town.
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Cooper faces a court appearance Friday for a bond hearing, according to the Sequatchie County Circuit Court Clerk’s Office. Cooper has not obtained an attorney.
Contact Southeast Tennessee reporter Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.
