Northport Man Jailed On Child Porn Charges After 16th Street Search Warrant Wednesday

TUSCALOOSA, AL — The West Alabama Human Trafficking Task Force has arrested a Northport man on nine charges involving material depicting child sexual abuse.

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The Task Force said in a press release that Thomas Ramos Chajal, 22, was charged Wednesday morning with eight counts of possession of pornographic material depicting the sexual abuse of a child and one count of disseminating material depicting the sexual abuse of a child.

Captain Phil Simpson, the Task Force's commander, said investigators executed the search warrant at a residence in the 1800 block of 16th Street in Northport at 6:15 a.m., arresting Chajal shortly thereafter.

Chajal was booked into the Tuscaloosa County Jail about being charged, with his bond set at $150,000.

The Task Force also pointed out the Wednesday morning arrest follows a multi-day operation that began last week and led to the arrest of 10 suspects.

In detailing the investigation, Simpson said officers set up profiles on dating apps posing as a juvenile female, before then being contacted by more than 50 men.

Simpson went on to say undercover investigators posing as the underage girl immediately stated her supposed age at the very beginning of each chat, with 10 of the men continuing to communicate and suggest meeting for sex.

As Patch previously reported, each of the 10 suspects were arrested after arriving at the agreed upon location.

“We conduct these investigations where officers pose as minors as a way to prevent exploitation of children,” Simpson said. “But the young victims whose abuse is depicted in the material recovered this morning are very real. Every one of our investigations is ultimately intended to protect victims and potential victims from future abuse.”

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