Police have arrested an Aurora man suspected of having thousands of images of child porn on his electronic devices, content authorities say he attempted to keep from investigators by refusing to divulge passcodes to his devices.
The Aurora Police Department Internet Crimes Against Children Unit arrested Aaron Marshall Mocalkins, 27, on Sept. 24. He could face one count of sexual assault of a child, one count of unlawful sexual contact of a child, 12 counts of sexual exploitation of a child, two counts of invasion of privacy of a child victim for sexual gratification and two counts of internet sexual exploitation of a child.
The charges, which haven’t officially been filed by the Arapahoe County District Attorney’s Office, are felonies. Mocalkins is also facing three misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals.
The Aurora Police Department announced the arrest on X Thursday afternoon.
In March 2022, Internet Crimes Against Children detectives received a tip from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children about a user of the social media app Kik possessing child sexual abuse material, according to police. It traced to Mocalkins, who refused to cooperate with investigators.
Though the suspect wouldn’t give detectives access to his devices, police were able to bypass his passwords and gain entry to his data with the assistance of Homeland Security Investigations. On his devices, police found “thousands of images and videos of child sexual abuse material,” according to the post on X.
Law enforcement partners in Colorado Springs and El Paso County aided Aurora police in making the arrest. Mocalkins is being held at the Arapahoe County Detention Center on a $100,000 bond. He has a preliminary hearing on Oct. 17.
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