Phoenix, Arizona - Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced that a State Grand Jury has indicted John Christopher Spero and Edward Clarence Elder separately, both on multiple counts of sexual exploitation of minors. The cases are unrelated. Both cases were investigated in conjunction with the Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
John Christopher Spero: Spero was indicted with ten counts of the Sexual Exploitation of a Minor. These charges arose from an anonymous online tip regarding images and videos stored in a Yahoo email account owned by Spero. The anonymous online tip further alleged that the images and videos depicted the sexual exploitation of minors, which prompted law enforcement to launch an investigation. Spero was formerly employed as a nurse in the Valley.
Pictured: John Christopher Spero
This case was investigated by Special Agent Schmeiser with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, in conjunction with Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The investigation is currently ongoing.
If you have information concerning this matters or this individual, please contact law enforcement or Special Agent Arthur Schmeiser with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office at (602) 542-8249.
Edward Clarence Elder: Elder was indicted with ten counts of the Sexual Exploitation of a Minor. These charges arose from an anonymous online tip regarding photos posted to an online photo-sharing website, Flickr. The anonymous tip alleged that the photos depicted the sexual exploitation of minors.
Pictured: Edward Clarence Elder
This case was investigated by Detective Panagakis with the Mesa Police Department, in conjunction with the Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The investigation is currently ongoing.
If you have information concerning this matter or this individual, please contact law enforcement or Sergeant Jason Troth with the Mesa Police Department at (480) 644-5984.
All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Assistant Attorney General Maura C. Quigley is prosecuting both cases.
Arizona Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force - AzICAC is comprised of investigators from City, County, State, and Federal Agencies, including the Arizona Attorney General's Office. Special emphasis is placed on locating, prosecuting, and imprisoning people who intentionally exploit children. The AzICAC Task Force diligently pushes to fulfill this goal with highly trained and professional investigators and cutting edge forensics and technology.
To report the online exploitation of children, use the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's CyberTipline. The public and electronic service providers can make reports of suspected online enticement of children for sexual acts, extra-familial child sexual molestation, child pornography, child sex tourism, child sex trafficking, unsolicited obscene materials sent to a child, misleading domain names, and misleading words or digital images on the internet.
If you or someone else are in immediate danger, please call 911 or your local police.