SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – We have new details in the case against a state employee charged with child porn and sexual exploitation of a minor, including how he was connected to a missing teen in North Carolina.
We first told you about 24-year-old Mohammad Ghosheh Wednesday night after he was released on a $10,000 cash bond. Court documents reveal how authorities came to know about him and what they found at his house.
According to court documents, the South Dakota Department of Criminal Investigations received a CyberTip at the beginning of March that Mohammad Ghosheh was talking to a 15-year-old girl from North Carolina.
Ghosheh allegedly asked the teen for nude photos of herself as well as told her he’d fly to North Carolina if he ‘liked what he saw’. That conversation was just days before an Amber Alert was issued for the 15-year-old.
“The 15-year-old girl has been recovered and another 30-year-old has been arrested by the North Carolina authorities regarding their investigation,” South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley said.
While Ghosheh was not involved in the North Carolina kidnapping, he’s accused of preying on the same victim.
When authorities searched his house and vehicle in Brookings following the CyberTip, court documents say officers found what appeared to be a quote ‘sex kidnapping kit’ in his car.
“It contains various tools and items that would be used of a sexual nature and to restrain somebody,” Jackley said.
Inside Ghosheh’s home, officers allegedly found similar items, handcuffs and sex toys. And on his electronics, authorities say they found child pornography involving girls between the ages of 3 and 14.
“CyberTips is that opportunity for law enforcement to work together to ultimately protect and save victims,” Jackley said. “This is a case that demonstrates that. Why having the ICAC, which is Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force that received to act very quickly to make an arrest and, again, it worked how it should.”
Ghosheh has no prior criminal history and was an employee with the Department of Social Services. The DSS Communication Administrator tells KELOLAND News Ghosheh has been relieved of all of his duties with the department.
