In 2024, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension received a CyberTip from Kik concerning child sexual abuse material (“CSAM”) being uploaded to Kik’s servers. The CyberTip included four reports from Kik: (1) October 15, 2024: 14 videos of suspected CSAM; (2) October 28, 2024: 11 videos of suspected CSAM; (3) March 11, 2025: 34 video and 2 images of suspected CSAM; and (4) May 10, 2025: 23 videos of suspected CSAM. The CyberTip identified the account holder email address, from which Kik had identified several user accounts disseminating CSAM using that same email address.
An investigator reviewed one of the CSAM files from the CyberTip that had an MD5 hash value of de8c18d6765a3ffe732020e40ad45eae, which was a 15-second video that showed a young juvenile female being filmed topless with her breasts exposed and her mouth open while an adult male masturbates. The adult male places his penis on the child’s lips. The investigator searched the hash value for this file through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (“NCMEC”) and learned that the file contained an identified child [NAME REDACTED]. Through investigation, law enforcement learned that subscriber information of the IP addresses used to access the KIK accounts identified in the CyberTip returned to [ADDRESS REDACTED] #XXXX in Brooklyn Center, Hennepin County, Minnesota.
Law enforcement identified two persons living at that residence, including Defendant JOHN DEAN MCCLAIN, born on [DOB REDACTED]. Defendant’s driver’s license issued in October 2023 listed the same Brooklyn Center address. In addition, apartment rental documents listed Defendant on the rental agreement for this address. A tracking warrant for Defendant’s cell phone also placed him at the Brooklyn Center address. An investigator reviewed surveillance footage from August 25, 2025, which showed Defendant leaving the Brooklyn Center address.
Also on August 25, 2025, law enforcement received a fifth Kik CyberTip involving distribution of CSAM. The CyberTip originated on August 13 and had the same IP addresses as the CyberTips noted above involving Defendant’s identified Kik accounts. The investigator observed many videos of CSAM involving young female children having sexual intercourse and oral sex. Law enforcement obtained a search warrant for records from Kik concerning the four accounts identified in the CyberTip. One account had a selfie image of a male that matched Defendant’s physical description.
The Kik accounts had CSAM images and videos and were disseminating CSAM to other accounts. On August 27, 2025, law enforcement executed a search warrant at the Brooklyn Center address. There, they located Defendant and another occupant. Law enforcement seized two laptops, an SD card, an Apple iPhone, and a Samsung cell phone. In a Miranda statement, Defendant admitted to knowing that the police were present because he is possessing CSAM. Defendant disclosed that he has a pornography addiction and that he stumbled across CSAM, which piqued his curiosity.
