AMES, Iowa (KCCI) – An Iowa State student has been credited with exposing an online neo-Nazi child pornography ring.
Kami Feld, a police officer at Iowa State University, said she received a tip from the unnamed student in 2020 that kicked off a four-year investigation that revealed a shocking and sinister online cult that preyed on children.
“I’ve been in awe of her since the beginning. She was being blackmailed and had the strength and bravery to come forward and say, ‘This is not OK,’” Feld said.
The ISU student told police she was being blackmailed by a man she had met on a social media app when she was underage.
“She shared with us certain details. We were able to unravel a bigger story,” Feld said.
That bigger story led to the arrests of four men worldwide.
The Department of Justice filed charges against 23-year-old Colin Walker of New Jersey, 24-year-old Kaleb Merritt of Texas, 28-year-old Rohan Rane of France and 41-year-old Clint Borge of Hawaii.
An unsealed federal indictment said the men were part of an online group that followed neo-Nazism and pedophilia as its core principles.
Police said the cult-like group called themselves “The Cvlt.”
Its members are accused of enticing and coercing children to produce sadistic child pornography.
The horrifying details revealed in the indictment said children were groomed and degraded to perform dehumanizing acts and then were blackmailed if they tried to stop or tell their parents.
“Gross. But also horrific, and it just made me that much more motivated to try and get to the bottom of this because it became clear very early on that there were many victims,” Feld said.
Feld broke the case wide open when she noticed a fake address when reviewing a mountain of evidence from subpoenas.
Years of combing through data, online banking records and IP addresses led her to a suspect, Clint Borge in Hawaii.
Feld snapped a picture in August 2021 after she flew there with federal agents to interview Borge.
“I asked him about his computer training, and he initially said, ‘What do you mean?’ And I said, ‘Well, you’re very tech savvy. Did you, are you self-taught? Did you take some courses? How did you become to be so tech savvy?’ And he just bowed his head and said, ‘Obviously not tech savvy enough, otherwise you wouldn’t be here.’ And that’s when, you know, you’re getting somewhere,” Feld said.
Feld’s police work was crucial for homeland security investigators who identified at least 30 victims.
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