NCMEC CyberTipline Report Leads to 15 Year Sentence for Randolph County Recidivist Sex Offender

GREENSBORO – A North Carolina man was sentenced on October 6, 2021, to 180 months in prison, followed by a lifetime term of supervised release, for receiving child pornography after having been convicted of a child pornography offense.

Michael Scott Kivett, 41, was previously convicted in Guilford County of multiple counts of Second Degree Exploitation of a Minor in 2001 and, again, in 2009. As a result, he was required to register as a sex offender.

In September 2019, Google made a report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) CyberTipline that child pornography images were uploaded to a Google Photos account. The images included prepubescent minors engaged in sex acts. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) Computer Crimes Unit, the lead agency of the North Carolina Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, received the tip and directed it to the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office, a task force member.

Randolph County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Joshua Hartong determined that the Google account belonged to Kivett and, in November 2019, he and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent Jessie Foster confronted Kivett and seized his phone. On the phone, investigators found 108 images and 126 videos depicting child pornography. Kivett admitted to viewing and downloading child pornography using a foreign cloud-based instant messaging application that offers end-to-end encrypted "secret" chatting. Kivett was arrested and detained on state charges.

He was charged in the Middle District of North Carolina in February 2020 and pled guilty to a superseding indictment charging him with receiving child pornography in November 2019 after having already been convicted of a child pornography offense.

“Protecting children from online sexual exploitation is a high priority,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Sandra J. Hairston. “In North Carolina, the ICAC task force, spearheaded by the SBI, leads these efforts. Active task force participation by our local partners like the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office is critical, especially given the increase in CyberTipline reports. We all owe a debt of gratitude to the investigators who work these cases.”

“Increased use of and access to the Internet during the pandemic has led to more opportunities for offenders to come into contact with teenagers and children. We greatly appreciate our partnerships with agencies advocating for increased public awareness and those who have contacted law enforcement with tips that make the Internet a safer place for children,” said Randolph County Sheriff Greg Seabolt.

“Kivett is being held accountable for his continued involvement and delight in the disgusting images of children being exploited, “said Special Agent In Charge Ronnie Martinez, who oversees Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) operations in North Carolina and South Carolina. “Every time one of these images is shared or viewed it revictimizes an innocent person and HSI along with its partners will continue to search for, arrest and bring to justice anyone involved in this heinous crime.”

NCMEC’s CyberTipline is the nation’s centralized reporting system for the online exploitation of children. The public and electronic service providers can make reports of suspected online enticement of children for sexual acts, child sexual molestation, child sexual abuse material, child sex tourism, child sex trafficking, unsolicited obscene materials sent to a child, misleading domain names, and misleading words or digital images on the internet. https://www.missingkids.org/gethelpnow/cybertipline.[1]

According to the Computer Crimes Unit, https://www.ncsbi.gov/Divisions/Field-Operations/Computer-Crimes.aspx, NCMEC CyberTipline reports have increased dramatically in recent years.

*Estimated based on reports to date: 8,815 as of October 1, 2021. September reports totaled 1403, the highest number ever received in a single month.

“The North Carolina ICAC Task Force is only successful because of the partnerships of local, state, and federal agencies working together to investigate some of the most heinous crimes that are perpetrated against some of the most vulnerable in our society,” said NC ICAC Task Force Commander Kevin Roughton.  “As more children are online every day in an increasingly virtual world, the work of ICAC Task Force members is more important now than ever.”

This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Eric L. Iverson. It was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative by the Department of Justice to combat online child sexual exploitation and abuse. The initiative is led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), and focuses on coordinating federal, state, and local resources to better identify and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

[1] To report information about missing or exploited children, dial 1-800-843-5678 to reach NCMEC’s 24-hour call center.