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Predator Hunters 2026 S01E05
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TVTranscript
00:00The following program documents real law enforcement investigations of child sexual predators.
00:06This deeply disturbing content may be triggering for some viewers.
00:09Please watch with care.
00:11Next, a predator thinks he's meeting a woman to have sex with her nine-year-old niece.
00:17Come here, you ready to take him?
00:20He has no idea that a police helicopter is tracking his every move.
00:25Put your hands up! Hands up!
00:28I was coming to see a girl.
00:30Then, Detective Tony Godwin searches the home of a special education teacher.
00:35Do you have any reason to believe why we would be here?
00:38Not really.
00:39And makes a shocking discovery.
00:41It was the most disturbing thing I have ever seen in my entire life.
00:47And the team hunts down a predator who makes a chilling admission.
00:52To tell me the truth, you were going to come have sex with this kid today.
00:55To be honest, I was hoping yes.
00:58A team of police professionals in North Dallas has one goal.
01:03Take down online predators before they harm a real child.
01:09Child predators are everywhere.
01:12Online predators pose the biggest danger to America's children today.
01:16Kids are being targeted at an alarming rate.
01:20This team is opening its case files for the first time to show you how it tracks them down.
01:27All right, he's coming this way.
01:28And brings them to justice by any means necessary.
01:33Candle card.
01:35This is Detective Tony Godwin.
01:38And his team is...
01:40The Predator Hunters.
01:43All right, DPS 101, I think I got him.
01:46May 2020.
01:47A police helicopter tracks a pickup truck through Plano, Texas.
01:52We are still headed southbound into the complex.
01:55The Predator Hunters.
01:57The Predator behind the wheel believes he's catfished this woman to supply him with a minor for sex.
02:03And I started recording him.
02:05You have a nice, sexy little baby girl, boys.
02:08He thinks he's meeting her nine-year-old niece.
02:12He has no idea that he's the one being catfished.
02:16And that Detective Tony Godwin and his team are about to take him down.
02:21Put your hands up!
02:27This guy right here, John Anselet.
02:29This is a case I will never ever forget.
02:32He used a dating app to groom an adult woman who was there just looking for a normal relationship.
02:40He flipped that into a conversation about engaging in sex with children?
02:45To catch this guy, I had to catfish the catfisher.
02:57The case begins in January of 2020.
03:00At its heart is a 44-year-old woman named Shonda Kulig.
03:04She reported a man named Sven she met on a dating site as a potential child predator.
03:10I invite Shonda to my office to discuss this.
03:13And little do I know, this will be one.
03:16How did you meet this guy, Sven?
03:18Yeah, I met him on Tinder.
03:20And we started just kind of chatting.
03:23Just very flirtatious.
03:28Then he started sending me like a lot of pictures.
03:30Which I thought was nice because a lot of guys don't do that.
03:33He just looks like an everyday, normal dude.
03:38Young, athletic, good looking.
03:43Everything up at this point is looking really somewhat normal to me.
03:47But then, tell me about this.
03:52And then all of a sudden, it kind of took another really weird turn.
03:57He started talking about how he was hooking up with his mom.
04:02I was sitting there in shock.
04:04Like, I have no clue what is happening with this guy right now.
04:07At first, I was wondering like, is this a fantasy?
04:09But then, he went to another level.
04:13He said, I know I will my real daughter when I have one.
04:18And then he said at 11 to 13, they were so horny.
04:22And then he said, yes, I have let one.
04:25me, that was 12.
04:26I'm a daddy to them.
04:27And he was like, can you kiss the 11-year-olds and help me train them?
04:33I sat there shocked and went, what the actual heck is happening right now?
04:39If he's saying these things, is he doing these things?
04:42I'm thinking, how can I hunt the sucker down?
04:46I just flat out asked him, what's your last name?
04:51And he just tells me, Belmanson.
04:54So I was like, perfect.
04:56I'm downloading our chat.
04:58I'm downloading the pictures that he's sending.
05:00And then he tells me he has a friend that he would love to introduce me to.
05:06His name was John.
05:10And then my phone is ringing.
05:17I knew when I heard the phone ring to grab my other phone and start recording.
05:22I don't know how the heck I knew to do that.
05:24Oh, I love your voice.
05:26Oh, my God.
05:27Yeah, you have a great phone voice.
05:30He says, hey, this is John.
05:33I'm the friend of Sven.
05:35And then his next words were like, oh, my God, your voice is so sexy.
05:40Uh, yeah.
05:42This is totally new.
05:43This is going to be different.
05:46So it kind of sounded kind of interesting, though, didn't it?
05:49It's interesting.
05:50Yeah, definitely.
05:52So you're ready to be trained, though, aren't you?
05:55Mm-hmm.
05:56Yeah.
05:57You do have a nice, sexy little baby girl voice.
06:02The creepiness of his voice is a first thought.
06:05Honestly, it made me never want to be on the phone again for a while.
06:09Yeah.
06:10I know how difficult that call really was for you.
06:13I could just see your reaction to it.
06:15What happened next after the call?
06:17At this point is when I contacted the police.
06:22I'm really proud of what you did and the perseverance you had trying to figure this out.
06:26You'd be surprised how many people don't do that.
06:32I begin my investigation into Sven Mallinson and his friend John.
06:36It's happened so fast, so quickly, with two predators with the same woman.
06:40I'm wondering, have I latched onto some sort of underground, perverted network of people?
06:46The reality is that Sven and John are grooming Shonda because that's the tactic.
06:52They groom the adult first so they get access to the child.
06:57I've got names. I have phone numbers for both of these guys.
07:01I give all of this information and intelligence that I have right now to Tady Guthrie.
07:06She's the crime analyst in my unit, and we're going to build this case together.
07:13Tony's given me a number for John, and with that number I'm able to serve a subpoena to AT&T
07:20for their records.
07:21AT&T does come back with records on that number for a John Anselet.
07:30I run John Anselet through some police databases that I have.
07:34What I found was really disturbing.
07:36In 1997, detectives from Dallas PD arrested Anselet for aggravated sexual assault of a child.
07:44He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of assault causing bodily injury.
07:49So now check out Sven Mallinson.
07:52I find out that his phone number is a voice over internet line, which means that it's using internet protocol
07:59instead of a cellular network.
08:02This makes it hard to trace, but not impossible.
08:04His internet IP address comes back to an address in Pottsboro.
08:10But shockingly, it's not just an address, because it's actually John Anselet's address.
08:16We're not looking for Sven and John.
08:20John is the guy, and I think Sven is not anyone of importance to us.
08:28We dig deeper into Sven Mallinson's background.
08:30We find no link whatsoever between him and John Anselet.
08:36John Anselet used Sven Mallinson's name together with photos of another man to create the dating profile.
08:44That's super rare.
08:45I've come across only one other predator in my entire career who's done that.
08:50The fact that he victimized a whole other person that had nothing to do with this is double trouble.
08:56This guy, John Anselet, he's a pretty smart predator.
08:59I have a plan to catch him.
09:01The last way he would ever expect, I'm going to catfish the catfisher.
09:07Shonda gives Tony permission to use her cell phone.
09:11Tony picks up the conversation with John where she left it.
09:16The predator messages around the clock seven days a week.
09:20So I continue to exchange messages back and forth with John.
09:25He quickly turns the conversation really sexual about minors.
09:30This is my opportunity to lure him in.
09:34When John replies, you're going to see what his true intentions really were from the start.
09:42Can I love her and have her sexually?
09:46How many people are going to offer up a child that they have access to?
09:50And so I have to reply and be very cautious in what I say.
09:56This is the beginning of a long waiting game.
09:59Over the next two months, Tony, posing as Shonda, exchanges thousands of messages with John.
10:07Finally, Monday, April 27th, all my patience pays off.
10:12John sends a message.
10:16I want to make love to her on the first meeting.
10:18Holy moly.
10:20He's now making it very clear that he wants the niece.
10:24That's really huge.
10:26I have to give him something really plausible.
10:28I say, I'm dog sitting for a girlfriend in Plano.
10:32I'm planning to keep my niece overnight on Friday.
10:38This has taken me a couple of months to get to this point.
10:41And I'm super excited because on Friday, May the 8th,
10:44I'm going to get my chance to arrest this guy and get him into custody.
10:49This takedown, it's going to happen in Plano, Texas.
10:53This takedown is really unprecedented.
10:56Covert surveillance, air surveillance, takedown team.
11:00There's so many moving parts.
11:06All right, DPS 101, I think I got him.
11:10At 2.36 PM, I get notified that Anselet has left his property.
11:14And over a white Dodge Ram, left lane.
11:17I've got a live feed of this from a police helicopter.
11:20DPS 101, no change, southbound 75, left lane.
11:24I'm glued to my phone watching this white truck drive southbound on an eight-lane highway.
11:29All right, he's setting up to exit park.
11:31Stand by for direction.
11:32When Anselet's about a mile away, the worst case happens.
11:37Lost visual for a second here at 15th and, uh, 75.
11:42I'm flipping out at this point.
11:45They exited, exited 100, 100, fast.
11:49It feels like 12 months is going by in slow motion.
11:55It's agonizing.
11:56That's incredible.
11:56Here he is.
11:5710-4, sir.
11:59I got him.
11:59Eastbound 15th.
12:01Anselet keeps moving.
12:03He's very, very close to our takedown location.
12:06Looks like he's going to go, uh, eastbound on 14th from P Avenue.
12:12And then out of nowhere, he takes a quick right into this industrial area.
12:17I took a right turn.
12:20He's behind a cement truck.
12:22I don't know what this guy's doing.
12:24All right, he's getting out.
12:25I got a white, male, gray, long-sleeve shirt, red shorts.
12:31Miller Drive, M-I-L-L-A-R-D Drive.
12:38Tony's takedown of John Anselet hangs in the balance after the Predator makes an unscheduled stop.
12:44I don't have a clue what Anselet's doing.
12:47He gets out of his truck, and he walks around to the passenger side.
12:50I'm thinking the worst-case scenario possible.
12:53He's got a long gun, pistols, plenty of ammo, and he's setting up to hurt one of my guys.
12:5932-81.
13:00Looks like he was...
13:01He had shorts on.
13:02Looks like he was carrying a pair of pants.
13:05Anselet changes clothes, puts pants on, and immediately drives away.
13:10All right, DPS 101, he's on the move again.
13:12It's like he's going to face back northbound and head out.
13:15If you look at this for what it is, this is a grown man who's getting himself dressed up
13:20for a meeting to have sex with a nine-year-old female.
13:25All right, we are still headed southbound into the complex.
13:30When Anselet pulls into the apartment complex, he literally drives right in front of me
13:35and has no idea that I'm there.
13:38Okay, we got him in the complex.
13:40Plano squad cars head on with him right now.
13:42Plano squad cars head on with him right now.
13:46When a marked police car from Plano PD drives right past him.
13:52I think he's going to punch the gas and haul butt out of there.
13:57The squad car does a U-turn.
14:00Activates their lights and sirens, and they initiate the stop.
14:06Get your hands up! Hands up!
14:08Step out.
14:11Officers just descend on his vehicle, and they pull him out.
14:16I'll explain it to you in just a second.
14:19I was coming to see a girl.
14:20You are? Yes, sir.
14:23When Anselet says he's just there to see a girl, he knows he's caught.
14:27But he somehow wants to portray to these cops that, hey, this is just a very innocent thing.
14:32Like, what is going on?
14:34I'm sure Tony's wrapped up, but if that's all y'all need from us, we're going to clear.
14:39Okay?
14:39Yeah, 10-4.
14:46I have my wallet and everything in that car.
14:49Hey, his wallet's in the car.
14:51And my phone.
14:52His wallet and his phone are in the car.
14:54My hope is that every bit of evidence that has built this case is right there on Anselet's phone.
14:59And that's something that we'll do a forensic exam on.
15:02Can I have my phone also?
15:04You'll get that over there.
15:07A forensic search of Anselet's phone reveals that he used Fen Mallinson's name in photos of another man.
15:15He admits that he did speak to a woman online, to speaking sexually to this woman, and talking sexually with
15:22her about her niece.
15:23But he claims he was never going to do anything at all about that.
15:28I have my report here, and I can tell you specifically what he said.
15:32I have a lady who is sending me sexual pictures of her.
15:36I sent no sexual pictures to her.
15:38I'm very clear on meeting her today that my intentions were only to meet her.
15:43No, John.
15:45I have four months of communications with this guy that speak very, very differently as to the position he's taking.
16:01If there's one thing that I could take away from this case, is I'm going to talk about Shonda.
16:05Her bravery, her vulnerability, her ability to put herself on a different level to say, this is wrong, and I'm
16:13going to do something about it.
16:15We always see and hear and preach, see something, say something, and she did.
16:23You stupid. I knew it.
16:26May 9th, 2023.
16:29As soon as I parked in.
16:31Tony Grylls, an online predator.
16:34You spoke very openly and very candidly that you've had a sexual encounter with another kid.
16:40What will a lie detector test reveal about his sickening admission?
16:45Are you withholding information about meeting a minor for sex?
16:52Russell Steadman, this guy looks like every normal dude on the street.
16:56This guy can write a master class on how to groom a child.
17:00He did everything he could to communicate and have sex with a 13-year-old kid.
17:04But at the end of the day, I was able to get this guy into custody.
17:15The case starts on Christmas Eve, 2022.
17:18Even though it's Christmas time, I'm proactively hunting for predators on an app called Chat Hour.
17:26Chat Hour is a free site that anybody can download.
17:29It allows you to enter chat rooms based on a category that you have an interest in.
17:35I establish a new profile for the name Bailey, a 13-year-old female from North Texas.
17:40I list her age on the platform as being 80 years old.
17:45It's definitely an icebreaker for sure.
17:47Clearly, I'm not 80. I'm 13.
17:49Tony cannot reveal Bailey's profile picture.
17:53He uses it today in active investigations.
17:57I find a room called Flirting and I just wait.
18:01So within minutes, I get a private message from a user and his name is Dive In It.
18:08I look at this guy's profile picture.
18:10He is definitely a middle-aged man.
18:15I reply back, yeah, I do.
18:18I'm 13. Is that okay?
18:21He comes at me with this, are you alone?
18:24Just wondering who's with you.
18:25Why would he want to know this?
18:27He really wants to know who's paying attention.
18:30I tell him my mom and my aunt are here and my little cousin.
18:34This guy really has moved to the top of the list for me.
18:37I want to figure out what's going on with him.
18:42What I need is just a little bit of proof that he's into more than just sending a dirty message
18:47to a kid.
18:49The best way for me to make that connection is what happens if I ghost him.
18:53It's Christmas Eve and I can just leave it alone and then come back and say I was with family.
19:00I stay off chat hour for three weeks.
19:03The next time I log in, it's January 12th of 2023.
19:09Within 20 minutes, dive in it, he's right back to messaging me.
19:13He's definitely into this.
19:15I start re-engaging with him.
19:20And then he tells me how he was divorced in 2019.
19:23And he wished we could talk more.
19:25He's classically using a couple of different techniques.
19:28Let's love bomb this kid, but then also let's guilt trip this kid.
19:34The reality is that kind of techniques works very well with children
19:38because they don't have the bandwidth to really detect that manipulation that's going on.
19:44And so it's effective.
19:45I'm 100% positive this guy's a predator.
19:53Tony hunts for clues that can unmask a predator with the username DiveInit.
20:00I don't have an awful lot to go on.
20:02I've got his username DiveInit.
20:04I've got these three different photographs of this guy on his chat hour profile,
20:09but I need a little more.
20:13I offer up a cell phone number and see if he wants to move over to regular SMS messaging.
20:21And much to my surprise, he's okay.
20:26Now I've got this phone number. I can now figure out, is Russell a real name?
20:33I've got the best person on the planet that can help me do that deep dive.
20:36I reach out to my colleague, Tavey Guthrie.
20:44Tony gave me a first name and a phone number, and my tools gave me exactly what I needed.
20:49A full name for this guy, Russell Wayne Steadman.
20:56His social media has just very normal photos.
21:00He looks kind of like a regular average Joe.
21:04Just from what his conversations with Tony have been, we know that this guy is dangerous.
21:08So it's important for us to go ahead and look at his criminal history.
21:13And he does have two convictions that I can see.
21:19And none of those actually have anything to do with crimes against children.
21:23They're all things like theft.
21:25So I really need to tell Tony about this.
21:34The longer this chat goes on, the more frequent Steadman is messaging me.
21:41The disturbing part is that he puts pressure on her.
21:44Don't tell anybody.
21:48And then Steadman drops a bombshell on me.
21:56This guy tells me that he's had a three month sexual relationship with a 16 year old kid.
22:01Holy moly.
22:03This is crazy.
22:04This changes everything for me.
22:06Even though Steadman doesn't have a prior conviction for something like this.
22:10It's really grounds for serious concern for me because he could have gone unnoticed and nobody knows about this case
22:16yet.
22:17I'm really worried.
22:23Steadman ramps it up.
22:25He wants to use her bedroom.
22:28Oh my God.
22:30Really?
22:31I respond and I tell him that she works on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
22:37He doesn't miss a beat.
22:40That tells me that his impulse control is gone.
22:45I might not have much time to get this guy before he grabs a real kid or does something with
22:50a real kid.
22:51I text back and tell him, tomorrow, totally fine.
23:00So the meet is set for May 9th.
23:02My team and I are in place by 6.45 in the morning.
23:05We are set up an online solicitation of a minor case.
23:09Russell Wayne Steadman has agreed to show up to engage in sexual activities with what he believes to be a
23:1514 year old girl.
23:18I'm at the back of the complex where I have a visual of where Steadman is going to park.
23:24With me on this takedown is Jen Mullican from FBI.
23:27I'm trying to take the case federal to have it charged as an attempted enticement case versus an online solicitation,
23:34which is a state charge.
23:35It's a different level of proof he has to show up in order to be charged federally, but it also
23:41is a major sentencing difference.
23:44I'm continually texting him, letting him know, hey, my mom just left.
23:51He replies back, I just don't want us to get in trouble.
23:55Immediately, I get a sick feel in my gut, like, ugh, this guy is going to back out.
24:04Tony sends a message saying, don't bother coming.
24:07That's absolute textbook.
24:09It's giving them an out.
24:11And oftentimes they don't want to possibly lose a real thing.
24:16So they show up.
24:19I get a notification from the team on the outside that says, hey, we see his truck.
24:257.35 a.m., Tony's team lies in wait for Russell Steadman.
24:31Any part?
24:33Yes, next to the tree, by the mailbox.
24:36He's getting in.
24:38He's out.
24:47I'm not sure if you're in the front.
24:50Put your hands on the front.
24:53Hang on.
24:58Come on, let's go, sir.
25:02Officers are able to get onto that car and they find a bunch of great evidence.
25:06They find his cell phone.
25:09They find condoms and Viagra.
25:12The cell phones unlocked and on the screen are the messages with Tony's undercover persona.
25:17That's the greatest evidence you can possibly wish for.
25:22You stupid.
25:24I knew it.
25:26As soon as I park in.
25:37I want to have a conversation with you.
25:44What brought you here today?
25:48Something stupid.
25:49And he's thinking, am I going to lie?
25:52Am I going to tell the truth?
25:54Then tell me the truth.
25:55You were going to come have sex with this kid today.
25:58To be honest, I was hoping yes.
26:00Yeah.
26:02First she told me 16, then 18, and then I found out she's 14.
26:10When did you find that out?
26:12The last couple of days.
26:13Okay.
26:15Obviously this guy's lying.
26:16I'm never going to let him get away with this.
26:19You spoke very openly and very candidly that you've had a sexual encounter with another kid.
26:24Oh, I use that as a kind of enticement, I guess, but no.
26:32So you're saying that never happened?
26:33No, sir.
26:34One of the things that we do, Russell, to validate that, we have what we call a tactical polygraph
26:43to prove that you're not a hands-on offender.
26:45Is that something you might be willing to do?
26:48Sure.
26:50I call in a friend of mine with the Department of Public Safety.
26:54He's one of the early guys that I cut my teeth with when I was a new Internet Crimes Against
27:00Children guy.
27:01He is one of the best interviewers that I've ever seen.
27:07So put your hands like this over your head.
27:10Can I move forward a little bit?
27:11Perfect.
27:12This one's going to go around your alley.
27:17Are you sitting down?
27:20Yes.
27:22In your entire life, have you ever broken any law?
27:26No.
27:27All right.
27:28Now what about, have you had sexual contact with a minor who lived with you?
27:32No.
27:33Okay.
27:35What about this?
27:36Are you withholding information about meeting a minor for sex?
27:41No.
27:43Did you ever travel and just talk to them like you didn't actually meet?
27:46Meet?
27:47No.
27:47Okay.
27:51Okay.
27:52This test is not complete.
27:53Okay, you can relax.
27:55Yeah, we're all done.
27:56Okay.
27:57The results were inconclusive.
27:59I do as much investigating as I possibly can to determine if that claim of sex with a 16-year
28:05-old was legit, and I'm not able to find anything to substantiate that.
28:10However, based on my investigation up to this point, on September 23rd of 2023, Stedman is indicted federally.
28:27The Stedman case highlights just how devious a predator can be when they groom a child.
28:32Children can be easily manipulated.
28:35A predator will gain their trust and build a relationship with them over time.
28:39Fortunately, Stedman wasn't talking to a real child.
28:42He was talking to me.
28:46August 2017, Tony is in a race against time to snare a predator teacher before the start of the school
28:53year.
28:54We've got to get moving before this guy does some real harm.
28:58I'm Detective Godwin.
28:59I have a search warrant for your residence.
29:02Tony and his team discover the predator is a prolific collector of illegal material.
29:08But they are about to stumble upon something that none of them are prepared for.
29:13It was the most disturbing thing I have ever seen in my entire life.
29:23Kurt Keschler, this guy was downloading so much horrific child sex abuse material.
29:29The scary part was that he's a teacher with special education students.
29:34My team and I, we had to act super fast to get him into custody and deny him access to
29:39any kids.
29:45This case kicks off about a month earlier when I get contacted by two of my colleagues from different agencies.
29:50They tell me that they have a suspected IP address that's targeted in my city that's downloaded about 192 child
29:58sex abuse material files.
29:59And then I pull five of those files out just randomly to kind of spot check and verify if what
30:05that is, is actually child sex abuse material.
30:08And it is.
30:10My next course of action is determined, does this IP address actually belong to someone that lives in my jurisdiction.
30:16And it came back to a suspect and his name is Kirk Keschler.
30:21I start to do a social media dive on him and it shows that he's a special education teacher.
30:27It absolutely rockets that case to the top of my stack of work and there's no waiting.
30:38The school where Keschler teaches is out for the summer.
30:42Right now, it's July 19th.
30:44School starts on August 17th.
30:48That gives me four weeks.
30:50Figure out where this guy is, track him down and get him into custody before school starts.
30:56So that's a tight deadline for a really complex investigation.
30:59We've got to get moving before this guy does some real harm.
31:10Tony has only four weeks to track down Kirk Keschler before he returns to a classroom full of vulnerable children.
31:18For me and my team, the clock is ticking.
31:20I want to find out as much as I can about Kirk Keschler.
31:24So I reach out to my colleague Mark Castile in our intelligence unit to help me.
31:30I run a DMV check on Keschler and I find out that he's got a silver Chevy truck, a black
31:36Lexus and a red Chrysler vehicle.
31:39I learned that he is a divorcee, that he has three grown children and then I find out a real
31:45bombshell.
31:47I locate a 1998 report from Garner, North Carolina showing that he had been investigated for child porn.
31:54A person reported to the police department that they'd actually seen child porn on Keschler's laptop.
32:01Garner PD went out and investigated it. Unfortunately, they were not able to locate any child porn or any reason
32:08that they could arrest him.
32:09So he walked away.
32:11This just adds to my stress level because of this history that Mark has found out.
32:17I need to move on this guy right now.
32:27Now that I know who Kirk Keschler is and where he works, I've got to put a surveillance team on
32:31his house.
32:32I know that he's got three vehicles and a boat that are registered to him.
32:36So the surveillance team goes out there, gets some photographs and this is what they give me.
32:42What's missing is one of his vehicles. So what I do is reach out to the school district.
32:46What they tell me is that he's out of state. He's not due back until August 16th.
32:52The troubling part is the new semester starts the next day, August 17th.
32:58I have no authority whatsoever or jurisdiction to arrest him when he's out of state.
33:04I need to get to Keschler before the start of that class on the 17th, which means I have to
33:09arrest him on August 16th.
33:18Today's a big day. This is our takedown of Kirk Keschler.
33:22The problem is we don't know if he's there.
33:25He's supposed to be coming back from vacation.
33:27He has no idea that we're looking at him.
33:29I've got a team set up at his house and they're there to tell me, hey, do you see him
33:34or not?
33:34We're on a window. We got a couple of hours and the next thing you know, it's going to be
33:37dark.
33:38It's going to make things much harder for us.
33:40I can't run the risk of this guy slipping through and even attempting to try to go to work tomorrow.
33:47This is a two prong takedown. One is a team that's going to arrest Keschler.
33:51I'm part of that team. Two is a search team that's going to find that evidence.
33:55We can't allow Keschler to delete evidence and so we want to make sure that he is secure so the
34:01other team can find all of his electronics.
34:12Hello?
34:13I arrive at Keschler's house. The lights are on inside. I know it's go time.
34:19Hey, sir. Hey. How are you? What's your name? Kirk. Kirk. I'm Detective Godwin. I have a search warrant for
34:25your residence.
34:27There's going to be some other guys coming in here. We will kind of get kicking. I'll kind of tell
34:31you what's going on. Why I have the warrant and all that.
34:35Oh, you have a warrant? I have a search warrant for your house. Can I see it? Yep.
34:39Keschler is coming off very arrogant. It's kind of annoying.
34:43You've been home all day or what? Yes. What do you do for a living? I'm a teacher.
34:49How long have you been a teacher? Uh, 31 years.
34:53Three decades of teaching special needs kids. In my mind, there are potential victims all over the place. I'm really
35:01taken back by that.
35:03Do you have any reason to believe why we would be here? Not really. Okay.
35:07I see right through Keschler. He knows exactly why we are there.
35:13I work what's called internet crimes against children. And that's what brought me here today.
35:19You have the right to remain silent and not make any statement at all. And any statement you make maybe
35:23uses evidence against you at your trial. Do you understand that? Yes.
35:26Do you knowingly and intelligently and voluntarily waive those so that we can have a conversation?
35:31No, I'd like to get a lawyer. Okay. No sweat.
35:35He's not having a conversation with me. But we're not done. We still have to search this entire house.
35:41Can they call a lawyer? Uh, you can call a lawyer, but that's not going to happen until we're done.
35:47Oh, okay. So once we're done, you can call whoever you want. Okay? Okay. All right.
35:52So she's going to get some pictures. I'm going to get my big ugly mug out of the way. And
35:56we'll go from there.
36:01Detective Tony Godwin and his team are searching the house of Kirk Keschler.
36:06The reason we start in his bedroom is because it's very obvious this guy lives basically 24-7 out of
36:12this room.
36:14It's dirty. It looks like the sheets haven't been washed in a decade maybe.
36:20It stinks. It is disgusting.
36:24I see in the master bedroom a laptop with the lid down. And I walk over to it. I open
36:29it up.
36:30And there's a child sex abuse material file playing.
36:34But nothing can prepare them for what they discover next.
36:38Well, there's a closet with bifold doors inside Keschler's master bedroom.
36:45One of my colleagues opens up these bifold doors.
36:49Inside is a child-size sex doll.
36:56The doll has hair, like a wig on, but it's completely nude.
37:02It was the most disturbing thing I have ever seen in my entire life.
37:08We found loads of children's underwear clearly sized to the size of that sex doll.
37:15There were outfits and dresses and all kinds of stuff.
37:19I've run so many other warrants where there are certain things you find, but nothing to this level of depravity.
37:29Keschler is done. This dude is toast.
37:35Tony scans Keschler's devices for child sexual abuse material.
37:40My preview tools complete their scan, and it finds 661 contraband files of child sex abuse material.
37:49I've got everything I need to arrest Keschler.
37:52Put your hands on your back, please.
37:54You are being placed under arrest today, sir.
37:58You're being charged with possession of child pornography?
38:02Knowing that had we not got him arrested tonight, he would have potentially been in a classroom with special needs
38:08kids the following morning.
38:09It is a great feeling.
38:12We seize all of his electronic devices, and we send them in for a forensic exam.
38:17We get Keschler to the police department, and he's already invoked his Miranda right, meaning he's not going to talk
38:23to us without a lawyer.
38:24And that's totally fine. That's his right.
38:26I have another way to get to hear what he's talking about.
38:31Keschler calls his son from jail.
38:33If I don't make bail tomorrow, I'm going to need you to take the dogs to the immune society.
38:41My lawyer said it's 50-50 right now whether I'll make bail or not.
38:46Oh, .
38:50Well, why would you not make bail?
38:53Because in these kind of cases, they sometimes don't have bail.
38:58And then they do some other things like sell the house for me, do Texas state retirement so I can
39:06get retirement income.
39:07What it sounds like to me in that call is a guy getting all of his personal affairs in order
39:16as though he is never returning home.
39:19I contact Keschler's school to tell them what's happened, and they suspend him.
39:24It's a good thing they did suspend him because a few days later, a judge grants Keschler bail until a
39:30hearing can be held.
39:32Keschler's freedom, it doesn't last long.
39:34On September 8th, I get the results back from the forensic exam, and they find loads of child sex abuse
39:40material.
39:42The forensics team finds over 10,000 images and 3,000 videos of child sexual abuse material on Keschler's devices.
39:53Keschler shared this CSAM electronically across state lines.
39:57Now federal prosecutors charge him with transporting and shipping child pornography.
40:03I send officers out to arrest him.
40:05Based on his bail conditions, he's required to be at home.
40:08So they're going to go straight away to his house, knock on the door, and take him into custody.
40:14Hey, Kirk, how you doing, man? Can I come in and talk to you real quick?
40:16Absolutely.
40:18Hey, uh, I'm sure you're aware that you're going to have a warrant for your arrest, okay?
40:22I didn't know that.
40:23Yeah.
40:23I thought I was having a, there's no indictment or anything?
40:25No, not for a federal warrant.
40:28Go ahead and spin around for me until we put the cuffs on you.
40:31I appreciate your cooperation, sir.
40:39I'm delighted that Kirk Keschler's going to spend the rest of his, hopefully, natural life behind bars in prison.
40:46A later investigation concludes there is no evidence that Kirk Keschler abused children from the school where he taught.
41:03The Keschler case reminds us that perpetrators come in all forms and all walks of life.
41:09Keschler worked with vulnerable students and had done so for years.
41:13A message to you predators.
41:15There's no cookie cutter way to the way we do things.
41:18There's nothing we won't do to find you and catch you.
41:22We will adapt if needed.
41:24And trust me, we are the best.
41:26We will find you.
41:27We will get you.
41:28You will be to prison.
41:29You will go to prison.
41:31You will go to prison.
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