(SitNews) Sitka, Alaska - As a result of an ongoing investigation by the Sitka Police Department and the Anchorage Police Department’s Cyber Crimes Unit, Khari Atiba Wade was indicted December 28th by the Sitka Grand Jury and charged with eight counts related to the unlawful exploitation of minors.  

On August 8, 2017 Wade, a seasonal worker at Silver Bay Seafoods, came to the attention of local authorities in Sitka when a community member allegedly observed him handing out money to children at the Coliseum Movie Theatre.  Approximately two weeks later on August 26, 2017 the Sitka Police Department received a report that a man, later identified as Wade, was taking pictures of a minor in the boy’s locker room at the Blatchley Middle School pool during open swim. Detective Eccleston of the Sitka Police Department spoke with the minor and allegedly confirmed that Wade pointed his phone at him and angled it downward.

Officers located Wade at Silver Bay Seafoods and conducted an interview at the Sitka Police Department.  According to the charging documents, Wade admitted to recording a cell phone video of the minor. Wade also admitted to taking video of multiple different nude minors earlier that day and the previous day. The Anchorage Police Department’s Cyber Crimes Unit performed a data extraction on Wade’s Samsung Galaxy phone and discovered video recordings of minors in the community. 

Wade faces a potential sentence of up to 99 years on each count should he be convicted. Any individuals with information regarding Wade’s activities should Detective Mark Thomas of the Anchorage Police Department’s Cyber Crimes Unit at 907-786-8900.

The indictment by the Grand Jury is a charging document, and Wade is presumed innocent of all charges unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. 

Editing by Mary Kauffman, SitNews

Source of News:

Alaska Department of Law
www.law.state.ak.us

 

Representations of fact and opinions in comments posted are solely those of the individual posters and do not represent the opinions of Sitnews.

SitNews ©2018
Stories In The News
Ketchikan, Alaska

Articles & photographs that appear in SitNews may be protected by copyright and may not be reprinted without written permission from and payment of any required fees to the proper sources. E-mail your news & photos to editor@sitnews.us Photographers choosing to submit photographs for publication to SitNews are in doing so granting their permission for publication and for archiving. SitNews does not sell photographs. All requests for purchasing a photograph will be emailed to the photographer.