How Cook County Sheriff's task force tracks down suspected child predators | EXCLUSIVE

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Last year, there were more than 36 million reports of suspected child exploitation online submitted to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's CyberTipline.

Here in the Chicago area, the Cook County Sheriff's Office has a Special Victims' Unit dedicated to catching people who target our most vulnerable.

Over a series of months, ABC7 followed sheriff's police as they investigated a tip that ultimately led to an arrest of a suspected child predator.

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Behind closed doors at the Cook County Sheriff's Department, a highly specialized team of investigators works to track the online activity of suspected child predators.

Daniel Codd is an investigator with the Cook County Sheriff's Police Special Victims Unit Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

"What I have is confirmed child pornography from my eyes. She is completely nude, and there is an adult male with her," Codd said.

He delicately described an image from a tip sent by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, or NCMEC.

"It's like opening up Pandora's Box now," Codd said. "This child might be on the other side of the world. I don't know. She might be in Indiana. She might be in Wisconsin. She might be down the street here."

The child in the video may never be identified or found, but the person in possession of the content is now on the radar of the Cook County Sheriff's Internet Crimes Against Children unit.

"You slip up somewhere, that will eventually lead to us finding you," Codd said. "We will find you."

Investigators then work through a tedious legal process to gather more information on the person connected to the account.

First, sheriff's police need a warrant in order to get access to the account where they believe illegal material is stored, typically a cloud-based storage or social media account. They then use the access to gather more evidence, build their case, locate the suspect and learn the person's routine.

After a months-long investigation, the team was ready to make an arrest. ABC7's Rob Hughes was right there with them, gearing up to ride along with Lieutenant James Draz, who is also with the Cook County Sheriff's Police Special Victim's Unit Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

"These cases have a little bit extra satisfaction to them, because in these cases, you know, you're truly taking a predator off the street," Draz said.

The team headed to the home of a man suspected of possession and solicitation of child pornography.

"There is one common variable with these," Draz said. "They don't see it coming."

The suspect received a surprise knock on his door, followed by some tough questions.

Codd and his partner went inside the home and talked to their suspect. Because it is an open case, ABC7's cameras were not permitted to record the interaction.

"He was openly out there, asking for child pornography and wanting to trade for it," Codd said. "And it wasn't just one or two times."

The suspect is 19-year-old Edwen Padilla. Sheriff's police told ABC7 they uncovered more than 100 files of child sexual abuse material from Padilla's phone, tablet and computer with the help of an electronic scent detection canine named Boone.

"It's the stuff that our offenders don't want us to find," Codd said. "It's the microSD cards. It's the thumb drives. It's the small stuff that the people want to hide from law enforcement that will get them caught."

After an hour and a half inside the home, Codd and his team made the arrest.

Padilla has been charged with 36 counts of Possession of Child Pornography and one count of Solicitation of Child Pornography. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. ABC7 reached out to Padilla's attorney, but he declined to comment.

Since 2020, investigations by the Sheriff's Internet Crimes Against Children unit have led to charges against 49 people for cases involving the victimization of children and child pornography. Meanwhile, there are hundreds of new tips waiting to be reviewed by sheriff's police.

"I tell people, not only is this a problem, it's a growing problem," Draz said. "It's gonna take a lot of effort and a lot of different levels to hopefully slow it down."

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said in 2023, reports to its CyberTipline included nearly 106 millions total files of child sexual abuse material.

On Monday night, ABC7 will have another report with a sit-down interview with Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart on the growing problem of child exploitation online and the efforts to put a stop to it.