FBI Seeks Public Help in Identifying Alleged Child Sex Predator

John Doe 28. Photos courtesy FBI.

By Wendy Osher

The FBI is seeking the public’s help in identifying and locating a suspected child sex predator, known as John Doe 28, that may be a US citizen.

The FBI office in Honolulu notes that there is no specific information that the unknown individual is living in Hawaiʻi or the Pacific, but released the information as part of a national  Endangered Child Alert search.

“While we don’t know that this suspect is in Hawaiʻi, the fact is that he has to be somewhere.  As such, we are asking people to share his photos on social media, so we can get some meaningful tips,” said Honolulu FBI Special Agent Tom Simon. 

When a similar approach in an unrelated case was initiated in 2012, seeking help from the public, the FBI ended up arresting a suspect on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi.

John Doe 28, photo courtesy FBI.

National FBI authorities corroborate that there are no details linking John Doe 28 to a particular area, but investigators believe he may be a US citizen because he speaks one word during a two-minute video recovered by investigators—“careful”—which is in English.

“Sometimes we will get some type of identifier that narrows down the geographic region,” said Special Agent Karen Jurden, in an FBI alert, “but that didn’t happen in this case. That’s why we are asking for the public’s help nationwide.”

The video of the man allegedly engaging in sexually explicit activities with a young boy first came to the attention of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in November of 2012. The FBI says it was recovered during the arrest of a San Francisco man on child pornography charges.

“The video was part of his collection,” Jurden said in an agency press release, noting that sexually explicit videos and images of children are often traded anonymously through online forums.

According to information released by the FBI, John Doe 28 is described as a white male, possibly in his 30s or 40s, with a receding hairline and wearing wire-framed glasses.

John Doe 28, photo courtesy FBI.

FBI officials say additional images relevant to the investigation include those depicting the subject and the child victim inside a residence with what appears to be a blue sofa chair and a picture hanging on a wall in the background.  The alleged suspect is also seen wearing a burgundy t-shirt with what appears to be a marlin, shark, or other fish logo on the left side.

“Enhancing photos of child sex abusers has been a great tool to identify and capture suspects in these troubling cases,” said Special Agent Simon.

“Social media can act as a force multiplier for the FBI when we are seeking tips on a big case.  Facebook and Twitter are catching way more criminals these days than pictures on the post office wall,” he said. “The photos of this suspect provide some concrete clues.  The face, the t-shirt, the green wall, the blue chair, and the painting hopefully will identify him, so we can seek criminal charges and stop him from hurting more kids.”

He continued saying, “Cases involving the sexual abuse of children are shocking to the conscience.  When clues like this emerge, we need to band together as a community and a nation to identify the suspect and contact the FBI with tips.”