International effort nabs Upper Merion man with child porn
An international investigation of an Upper Merion man’s interest in child porn began after IKEA, the Swedish company for which he worked, uncovered the images by monitoring company-issued computers from a continent away, court documents revealed.
“It’s unique,” Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Matthew Brittenburg said about the investigation into the conduct of James N. Highfill Jr., a 52-year-old Upper Merion man who worked at IKEA’s U.S. corporate office along Alan Wood Road in Plymouth Township.
“I think this case is a testament to the efforts among local, state, federal and international law enforcement partners to identify instances of online child exploitation and make sure that the appropriate authorities, wherever the crime is occurring, have the opportunity to apprehend those suspects,” Brittenburg added.
Highfill, of the 100 block of Cambridge Road, pleaded guilty in county court to a felony charge of possession of child pornography in connection with incidents that occurred in August 2018. Specifically, Highfill admitted to possessing more than 300 files that contained child pornography.
Judge Thomas C. Branca deferred sentencing so that Highfill can undergo a presentence investigation, including a psychosexual evaluation. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for May.
Highfill, who remains free on bail pending sentencing, faces a possible maximum sentence of up to 23 months in jail on the charges. Brittenburg vowed to seek jail time against Highfill.
Court documents indicate Highfill’s activity was flagged by IKEA security officials in Sweden, who then shared the information with U.S. authorities.
“IKEA appears, to me, to take seriously concerns about online child exploitation and I applaud the effort they made in this case. It’s a testament to them and what they’re concerned about as a company, that they invest resources, time and attention to this issue,” Brittenburg said. “I think it’s important to know that there are companies out there that care about this stuff.”
An investigation began in August 2018 when IKEA security and global IT officials based in Sweden and the U.S. notified members of the Delaware County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force about suspicions that an IKEA employee was using a company laptop to access child pornography, according to the criminal complaint.
Court documents revealed IKEA officials in Sweden engaged a Swedish company to deploy child sexual abuse monitoring software on all IKEA computers globally, a system that looks for digital content such as photos and compares “hits” to a database of known child porn using a digital fingerprint system, according to an arrest affidavit.
IKEA officials stated that on Aug. 8, 2018, they received three email alerts regarding three pictures accessed by an IKEA laptop in the U.S., according to the criminal complaint filed by Upper Merion Detective Constance H. Marinello. The images were accessed outside of normal working hours, court papers indicate.
IKEA security officials linked the suspicious activity to a laptop issued to Highfill, who, according to court papers, was the U.S. workforce staff planning and optimization manager, based out of the Plymouth corporate office and who lived in Upper Merion.