New Market Township may be involved in FBI case
Lead Summary
By
The Highland County Press-
Highland County's New Market Township is among 11 possible areas in the United States the FBI is considering in a child sexual-exploitation investigation, and the public is being asked for help, according to a report by the Columbus Dispatch.
The Dispatch reports that the FBI is circulating photos of two men, a T-shirt for "New Market Basketball" and a swimming pool related to this investigation, as the FBI is looking to identify a child victim.
"The T-shirt is yellow with the outline of a basketball on the front and the words New Market Basketball," the Dispatch reports. "Investigators believe the shirt may have come from a school, camp, or city containing the words 'New Market.'”
[[In-content Ad]]According to longtime local youth basketball organizer Gary Heaton, none of the local teams that he is aware of have a shirt resembling this photo, and he does not know of any such teams from the New Market area.
Communities, schools and cities containing the term "New Market" have been located in 10 states, including New Market Township, located south of Hillsboro.
Highland County Sheriff Ron Ward told The Highland County Press Tuesday that his office has not been contacted by the FBI.
"We basically learned of this investigation through the media," Ward said. "I'm not aware of any New Market basketball teams."
Ward said he has placed a call to the FBI.
According to the FBI, "initial images of the child involved, in sexually explicit positions, have been circulated since at least 2003."
The pool in the photo has appeared in some of these images.
The Dispatch report states that an FBI special agent with the Cincinnati division, Edward J. Hanko, said that the FBI believes the two men pictured "may have had contact with the victim and could help the FBI with identification efforts," and that the men in the photographs “are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.”
Anyone with information on any of these photos may contact the FBI at 513-421-4310, submit a tip online at https://tips.fbi.gov or call the FBI’s toll-free tip line at 1-900-CALL-FBI.
The Dispatch reports that the FBI is circulating photos of two men, a T-shirt for "New Market Basketball" and a swimming pool related to this investigation, as the FBI is looking to identify a child victim.
"The T-shirt is yellow with the outline of a basketball on the front and the words New Market Basketball," the Dispatch reports. "Investigators believe the shirt may have come from a school, camp, or city containing the words 'New Market.'”
[[In-content Ad]]According to longtime local youth basketball organizer Gary Heaton, none of the local teams that he is aware of have a shirt resembling this photo, and he does not know of any such teams from the New Market area.
Communities, schools and cities containing the term "New Market" have been located in 10 states, including New Market Township, located south of Hillsboro.
Highland County Sheriff Ron Ward told The Highland County Press Tuesday that his office has not been contacted by the FBI.
"We basically learned of this investigation through the media," Ward said. "I'm not aware of any New Market basketball teams."
Ward said he has placed a call to the FBI.
According to the FBI, "initial images of the child involved, in sexually explicit positions, have been circulated since at least 2003."
The pool in the photo has appeared in some of these images.
The Dispatch report states that an FBI special agent with the Cincinnati division, Edward J. Hanko, said that the FBI believes the two men pictured "may have had contact with the victim and could help the FBI with identification efforts," and that the men in the photographs “are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.”
Anyone with information on any of these photos may contact the FBI at 513-421-4310, submit a tip online at https://tips.fbi.gov or call the FBI’s toll-free tip line at 1-900-CALL-FBI.