Local man charged with 21 counts of child porn
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IDAHO FALLS — A 27-year-old local man has been arrested and charged with 21 felony counts involving child porn.
Benjamin Kade Roach is charged with 12 felony counts of possession of child porn and eight felony counts of felony distribution of child porn.
According to court documents, a detective with Idaho’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force began investigating a cybertip from X (formerly known as Twitter) in December 2024.
The cybertip states that the user of an account was having conversations and shared videos of child porn from July 2024 to January 2025.
In July 2024, the account sent a message to another user that, “I’d love to see you and your little sis recreate this.” The account later sent the user a video of child porn involving girls between the ages of 8 to 12 years old.
The document states the account of the cybertip would interact with users and send child porn to them.
An IP address was obtained through the cybertip, and a subpoena was issued to the internet service provider from which the address originated.
The result of the subpoena detailed an address in Idaho Falls, as well as the name of the account holder. The name belonged to a family member of Roach. Roach also lived in the home.
A second X account was identified from more cybertips being filed on different X accounts. The tips also contained emails associated with these accounts, which used an anagram of ‘Kade,’ and was conversing and sharing explicit content.
The children, all girls, ranged between the ages of 7 to 15 years of age.
On April 23, the ICAC task force executed a search warrant on the residence where Roach lived and a traffic stop was conducted as the man drove to work in Ucon.
Roach was detained and interviewed at the Idaho Falls Police Complex. Court documents state Roach confirmed the emails and the X accounts were his. He told the detective he believed the accounts were shut down due to comments he made on the social media app.
The detective informed Roach the reason why the accounts were closed were due to child porn. The man responded he may have clicked a link, not knowing what it was.
During the interview, Roach was questioned about the cybertips of his accounts sending child porn, and he responded he doesn’t remember.
When asked if he had any child porn on his phone, Roach answered there might be, but he was not sure of the ages.
The document states Roach denied the images sent were not of child porn, nor does he know where the child porn came from.
The detective asked the man why he spent his time on X and was told by Roach he used the social media platform for pornography. The document states Roach admitted that his addiction took him “too far into this kind of pornography.”
A search of the man’s phone and tablet was conducted and found 13 images and videos of child porn with the ages ranging between one to 15 years of age.
Roach is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing at 1 p.m. on July 2 before Magistrate Judge John Dewey.
Though Roach has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty. If convicted, he faces up to 350 years in prison.