On February 13, 2024, Special Agent K. Booth with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension ("BCA") received information regarding two separate CyberTip reports in relation to a resident of the city of Stillwater, Washington County. The two CyberTip reports included two separate incidents from two separate dates. The CyberTip reports were originally made by Synchronoss Technologies, Inc. (hereinafter, "Synchronoss"), which is the cloud-based storage provider for content stored on Verizon Cloud, a cloud storage platform for subscribers of Verizon.
Synchronoss maintains Verizon Cloud accounts according to a subscriber's telephone number. Synchronoss reported one of their users had uploaded suspected child sexual abuse images to their Verizon Cloud account. The BCA issued administrative subpoenas to Synchronoss, which provided the subscriber name "William Armstrong", the subscriber's account number (listed as a telephone number ending -3262), and an address on Seeley Street in Stillwater, Washington County, Minnesota. Given this information, the user related to the CyberTip reports was identified as WILLIAM DEAN ARMSTRONG, JR. [DOB REDACTED]. Search warrants were obtained for the residence, vehicle, and person of ARMSTONG, Jr. On May 14, 2024, officers with the Stillwater Police Department conducted a traffic stop of a motor vehicle known to be associated with ARMSTRONG, JR. ARMSTRONG, Jr. Was confirmed to be the driver of the motor vehicle during the traffic stop.
Pursuant to the search warrants, the cell phone of ARMSTRONG, Jr., a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3, was seized. In a post-Miranda interview, ARMSTRONG, Jr. Admitted his telephone number to end in -3262 and that he had had that telephone number for approximately twenty years. ARMSTRONG, Jr. Further explained that he had used "the Cloud" to transfer his data onto the device. When asked about child [NAME REDACTED], ARMSTRONG, Jr., indicated there may be an image of a 12-13 year old in lingerie from a long time ago, but there would be no child [NAME REDACTED] on his cell phone.
Pursuant to the search warrant, law enforcement officers forensically examined the cell phone of ARMSTRONG, Jr. A search of the cell phone revealed multiple images of child [NAME REDACTED]. Image 1: File Found: Images/9247F494EA087A9C1D757536428601C6 Item 1: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 Last Accessed: 5/3/2024 @ 11:51:07 AM Image depicts two female child victims. The child on the left appears to be pubescent with breast and pubic hair development. She appears to be about 13 years of age. She is dressed in a bra and underwear.
The child is laying back with her legs apart, while pulling her underwear to the side, exposing her genitals in a lewd manner. The second child [NAME REDACTED] is prepubescent. She is about 8 years of age with no pubic hair development. She is also laying back with her legs pulled back. She is holding her labia apart, exposing her genitals in a lewd manner. This child does have some type of shirt on, and her underwear is at her knees. Image 2: File Found: Images/8170A75E3C8B69FAB4DEBC9BA15946CC Item 1: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 Last Accessed: 5/4/2024 @ 11:03:46 AM Image depicts a prepubescent female child.
