HSI Kansas City investigation leads to a former school employee pleading guilty to child porn charge

WICHITA, Kan. — A Kansas man pleaded guilty to one count of receiving child pornography following a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Kansas City investigation.

According to court documents, Eric Caleb Carlson, 43, of Wichita, admitted to downloading and receiving videos and images depicting prepubescent children subjected to sex acts.

In June 2023, Synchronoss Technologies submitted two reports to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding files uploaded to its cloud-based backup service containing child sexual abuse material. Law enforcement investigators linked the account to Eric Carlson based on evidence such as a photograph of his driver’s license, a selfie, and photographs taken at Wichita Unified School District 259, where he formerly worked in the IT division.

Authorities arrested Carlson at the school district office and seized his phone. A search of his phone revealed numerous images and videos of child sexual abuse material located in a password-protected folder.

Carlson also had the Tor Browser on his device, which is a free and open source software for enabling anonymous communications and access to the dark web. Investigators reviewed Carlson’s Tor Browser history and found he had visited darknet webpages that offered access to child exploitation material. In July 2023, Carlson downloaded and received a zip file from the dark web containing child sexual abuse material.

Carlson is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 22, 2024. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

HSI and the Kansas Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force are investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Molly Gordon is prosecuting.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. attorneys' offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.

HSI is the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel and finance move. HSI’s workforce of more than 8,700 employees consists of more than 6,000 special agents assigned to 237 cities throughout the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’ largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.

Learn more about our mission to combat crimes against children in the community on X, formerly known as Twitter, @HSIKansasCity.