Joint Task Force Sweep Arrests Five Local Suspects for 38 Felony Counts of Encouraging Child Sexual Abuse (Photo)

JCSO Case 21-5045, 21-5063, 22-0731, 22-0837, 22-4608

Rogue Valley, Ore. – The Southern Oregon Child Exploitation Team (SOCET) joint inter-agency task force arrested five separate suspects Wednesday on 38 encouraging child sexual abuse felony charges. Jackson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) deputies and the United States Marshals Service (USMS) Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force (PNVOTF) along with Grants Pass Police Department (GPPD) assisted with serving the arrest warrants throughout Jackson and Josephine County. Although the cases are not connected, investigations uncovered more than 200 images of child exploitation among the five suspects. Felony charges include 34 first-degree, and four second-degree encouraging child sexual abuse.

Investigations led the task force throughout the Rogue Valley yesterday including addresses in Ashland, Central Point, Gold Hill, Grants Pass, Medford, Phoenix, and White City. These locations included tips where the suspects might be found, where they uploaded child exploitation images, as well as their residences and places of employment.

Each investigation began when SOCET received tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which led to subpoenas, followed by search warrants at the respective residences. Investigators seized digital devices during the searches and applied for additional warrants to examine the devices. Once the additional search warrants were signed, the Southern Oregon High Tech Crimes Task Force (SOHTCTF) forensically examined the devices for further evidence of child exploitation. At that point SOCET took each case through a Grand Jury hearing and the courts issued warrants for each suspect’s arrest. 

The first arrest came when SOCET received a tip that a suspect was at work in the 5000 block of Table Rock Road in Central Point. The task force located and arrested Andrew Gilbert Holstein, 33, of Medford, on 10 felony counts of first-degree encouraging child sexual abuse. Previously, SOCET served a search warrant at Holstein’s former residence on the 5800 block of Beagle Road in White City. During the course of the investigation, SOCET and SOHTCTF discovered Holstein was in possession of 124 child exploitation images. He is now lodged at the Jackson County Jail.

Next, SOCET located a suspect’s vehicle at his workplace in the 4000 block of Crater Lake Highway in Medford. The task force found and arrested Cody Austin Hill, 34, of Jacksonville, for nine felony counts of first-degree encouraging child sexual abuse. Based on a NCMEC cyber tip, SOCET served a search warrant at Hill’s former residence in the 1600 block of Anderson Creek Road in Talent. During the course of the investigation, SOCET and SOHTCTF discovered Hill was in possession of 24 child exploitation images. He is now lodged at the Jackson County Jail. Investigators believe that Hill may have victimized others. If you have any information about the suspect, please call the JCSO Tip Line at (541) 774-8333 and reference case number 21-5045.

The task force then located and arrested Nicholas Adam Tellin, 41, at his residence in the 400 block of North Rose Street in Phoenix, for three felony counts of first-degree and two felony counts of second-degree encouraging child sexual abuse. Previously, a NCMEC cyber tip led investigators to his residence where child exploitation images were uploaded. During the course of the investigation, SOCET and SOHTCTF found Tellin to be in possession of seven images of child exploitation. He is now lodged at the Jackson County Jail.

In Grants Pass the task force and GPPD located and arrested Matthew Jay Daniels-Gable, 24, in the 500 block of Northeast Royal Drive, for two felony counts of first-degree and two felony counts of second-degree encouraging child sexual abuse. During the course of the investigation, SOCET and SOHTCTF found Daniels-Gable to be in possession of four images of child exploitation. Daniels-Gable is now lodged at the Josephine County Jail.

The final arrest for the sweep came when Brandon Dean Johnson Gilsdorf, 26, of Gold Hill, turned himself in at the Jackson County Jail this morning. The task force attempted to arrest Gilsdorf at his residence in the 9900 block of Old Stage Road in Gold Hill, but he was not at the location. Gilsdorf is charged with 10 felony counts of first-degree encouraging child sexual abuse. During the course of the investigation, SOCET and SOHTCTF found Gilsdorf to be in possession of 45 images of child exploitation.

SOCET is a joint inter-agency task force that started in June of 2020 to combat child exploitation and human trafficking. The task force consists of investigators from JCSO, GPPD, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); and prosecutors from our local, state and federal law enforcement partners in Jackson and Josephine County.

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