A well-known Anchorage DJ is accused of possessing and distributing child pornography to dozens of people and for soliciting pornographic images from children directly, authorities say.
James Laplante — also known as “Jimmy O’Brien” on country station KASH 107. 5′s morning drive time show — was arrested late Thursday and charged with five counts related to distributing and possessing child pornography and online enticement of a minor, according to a statement from the Alaska Department of Law. He’s scheduled to be arraigned at the Anchorage Jail Court Friday at 2:30 p.m.
Laplante, a father with biological and adopted children, was taken into custody after the Anchorage Police Department Cyber Crimes Unit and the Alaska Bureau of Investigation’s Technical Crimes Unit served search warrants of his home and office at the Dimond Center, the DOL said.
APD learned of the 48-year-old’s alleged crimes Oct. 2 when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) filed two “Cybertip” Anchorage area reports, according to charging documents.
In one case, Instagram — a photo-sharing phone application — reported through NCMEC that user “thematthewwhartley” uploaded 13 images of child sexual exploitation to the account, the charges say. Authorities determined the account belonged to Laplante and that one of the IP addresses used to upload the pictures originated from his home address.
In a second instance, an image flagged by Google was linked to an IP address that originated at Clear Channel Communications, Laplante’s employer, located in the Dimond Center.
A search by authorities of Laplante’s home and office revealed more than 1,000 images of child sexual exploitation on the external hard drive connected to his work computer. Investigators also found evidence he used the social media texting app “KIK” to “solicit child pornography images from children directly,” charging documents said.
In a non-custodial interview with authorities in his work office, Laplante admitted to creating the Instagram account and allowing about 50 other users to also access it. He denied producing images of child exploitation involving his own children — biological and adopted.
“Investigation is ongoing as to any potential sexual abuse that may have occurred,” the charges say.