On Wednesday August 14, 2013, Santa
Cruz Police Detectives arrested Walter Louis Gafvert III for multiple counts of
Possession of Child Pornography. Mr.
Gafvert is 48 year old and lived at a home in the 13000 block of Highway
9. He was formerly involved in the adult
pornography business under a host of alias names.
The investigation started in July,
2013 when detectives were alerted to Mr. Gafvert by the Silicon Valley Internet
Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force.
The Santa Cruz Police Department is local affiliate to this regional
task force comprised of Federal, State and local law enforcement. Through meticulous investigative work,
Detectives developed enough information to obtain a search warrant for Mr.
Gafvert’s home in Boulder Creek.
Digital evidence was obtained from the residence which linked Gafvert to
possession of child pornography.
Detectives discovered thousands of images depicting Child
Pornography.
On August 14th Gafvert was located
and brought to the Santa Cruz Police Department for an interview with
Detectives. In searching his cellphones brought
to the interview, investigators found he was actively in possession and actually
downloading child pornography at that very moment. Gafvert confessed to his “child pornography
and methamphetamine addiction” giving graphic details of videos and images he
sought from the internet for sexual gratification. As part of the interview, Gafvert wrote an
apology letter for his actions.
Mr. Gafvert was booked into Santa
Cruz County Jail on multiple charges of possessing child pornography.
There are no indications local
children have been molested; however, investigators are still combing through
the thousands of images and videos in an effort to identify the children
depicted. To accomplish this task,
Investigators are working with the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children (NCMEC), Child Victim Identification Program (CVIP).
Investigators ask that you contact
(831) 420-5820 if you have information concerning Gafvert.
