Blackfoot man arrested after allegedly having over 600 files of child porn
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BLACKFOOT — A 25-year-old Blackfoot man has been arrested after allegedly possessing videos and images of child pornography.
Devin Thomas Balmer has been charged with ten felony counts of willfully possessing or accessing child sexually exploitative material.
According to the court documents, a law enforcement officer part of the Idaho Attorney General’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit was assigned to look into a tip.
The tip was received by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on Aug. 3 and came from Google. The web company had found uploaded files that included apparent child pornography from an account holder.
Court documents show Google became aware of the account user uploading child porn starting in December 2022. The last known upload was on June 2023. The officer investigated the tip, and found there were approximately 668 files, and 23 of them were videos. The remaining files were images. There were two separate Gmail accounts being used to upload the files.
The officer was eventually able to connect them to Balmer.
On Nov. 6, the officer requested a residential search warrant for Balmer from a Bingham County judge, which was granted.
Then, on Nov. 8, with assistance from the Bingham County Sheriff’s Office, the Blackfoot Police Department, the ICAC Unit, the Pocatello Police Department, and Homeland Security Investigations, the search warrant was executed at Balmer’s residence.
At Balmer’s house, a computer was found. The hard drive was removed from the computer and it contained hundreds of files of child sexual abuse material and child sexual exploitative material, according to court documents.
There were multiple videos showing children as young as 10 years old — some of the files on Balmer’s computer dated back to Oct. 17, 2021, documents said. There were additional electronics seized at the scene.
Balmer was taken to the Bingham County Sheriff’s Office for an interview. He answered a few questions without an attorney about where he lived, documents said. The interview was concluded once officers began to ask him about his email accounts, and he requested an attorney.
Balmer was arrested and given a $100,000 bond. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Nov. 22 at the Bingham County courthouse at 8:30 a.m.
Each felony count has a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine.
“The importance of the work our ICAC unit performs is immeasurable. I am continually grateful for their dedication to protecting our children,” said Attorney General Raúl Labrador in a news release about Balmer’s arrest.
Anyone with information regarding the exploitation of children is encouraged to contact local police, the Attorney General’s ICAC Unit at (208) 947-8700, or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678.
Though Balmer has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.