Police arrest former renter of storage unit where child porn was found
Charges are pending against a 53-year-old Ypsilanti Township man who owned the child pornography found by a Southfield couple Saturday after they won an auction for a Ypsilanti storage unit, according to police.
Ypsilanti police released a statement Tuesday night detailing the strange incident, which reads like an episode of the TV show Storage Wars gone wrong. Police first responded Saturday to National Storage Center, 521 Tyler Road, after being alerted of a discovery of child pornography.
A couple had won an auction for the storage unit and found child pornography while searching through the items. Police said Tyreek Wilkerson, 30, of Southfield, was the man who officially purchased the unit, which was auctioned off because the owner became delinquent on payments.
According to police, Wilkerson told employees at National Storage Center “he had discovered what appeared to be a small room set up for the production of child pornography,” police said.
Wilkerson removed the vast majority of the suspected child pornography and did not call police, according to investigators.
“Detectives were able to track this subject down and recovered a portion of the evidence from a dumpster and from inside the purchaser’s home,” police said in the statement.
Wilkerson was arraigned Tuesday on charges of possession of child pornography and lying during a police investigation, Detective Sgt. Thomas Eberts said. He posted a 10 percent of $10,000 bond and will return to court for a preliminary exam at 8:30 a.m. Aug. 1.
Wilkerson also had a detainer hold from another police agency in Wayne County, such as for an outstanding warrant, probation violation or parole violation, records show.
According to the Michigan Offender Tracking Information System, Wilkerson was discharged from state supervision in February. He has previous convictions for possession of a firearm during commission of a felony, receiving and concealing a stolen motor vehicle, possession of marijuana and attempted manufacture and delivery of marijuana, records show.
Eberts said earlier Tuesday that Wilkerson’s charges stem from his actions after discovering the child pornography.
On Tuesday, detectives also arrested the 53-year-old man who was the previous user of the storage unit.
Police searched the man’s home and discovered more evidence of child pornography, according to investigators. He was arrested and lodged at the Washtenaw County Jail.
“Detectives will be seeking charges of manufacturing/publishing child pornography,” the statement read.
The victim in the case is listed as an unknown preteen girl. It’s unknown at this point if the girl is known to the 53-year-old man.
The identity of the 53-year-old man is not known at this point — there was no criminal warrant filed in Washtenaw County court records for him Tuesday.
The investigation into the incident continues. Attempts to reach a spokesman for National Storage Center and Wilkerson's fiance, Shavon Henry, were not successful Tuesday.
Anyone with information on this incident is encouraged to call Eberts at 734-482-9878 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK UP (773-2587).
Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
JGS
Fri, Jul 26, 2013 : 12:01 p.m.
Oh boy - A fine upstanding citizen. There's no way he could have any connection to this. http://mdocweb.state.mi.us/OTIS2/otis2profile.aspx?mdocNumber=344163
734
Thu, Jul 25, 2013 : 7:24 a.m.
Wow so the guy who found the stuff was already booked and released on 10% bond and the guy who made the stuff still hasn't even been charged. Wth washtenaw county?!
Jay Thomas
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 7:16 p.m.
Two birds, one storage unit.
Superior Twp voter
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 6:54 p.m.
Tyreek and Shavon.
trespass
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 6:53 p.m.
I am surprised that AA.com is allowing people to make comments that assume Mr. Wilkerson is guilty of possessing child porn. He is innocent until proven guilty.
Think!
Fri, Jul 26, 2013 : 3:10 p.m.
Guess what Matt Cooper, this is why everyone should be scared to death to be judged by a jury of their peers. And it's very easy to tell the difference between comments on annarbor.com and a court of law. You can reasonably expect civility in a court of law but not on an online forum.
Matt Cooper
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 8:36 p.m.
Guess what, Think! We aren't in a court of law. We're posting on an online website. You do understand the difference between the two, right?
Think!
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 8:23 p.m.
In reply to Jenksy - Because police, journalists, and unpaid bloggers never get it wrong? In civilized societies there is a presumption of innocence until proven guilty. Would you prefer it be the other way around?
Jenksy
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 7 p.m.
Wilkerson removed the vast majority of the suspected child pornography and did not call police, according to investigators. "Detectives were able to track this subject down and recovered a portion of the evidence from a dumpster and from inside the purchaser's home," police said in the statement. What part of this statement makes it murky for you?
Kyle Feldscher
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 6:25 p.m.
As of 2 p.m. today, there was still no warrant on official charges filed for the 53-year-old Ypsilanti Township man in the court records in the Trial Court.
smh
Sat, Jul 27, 2013 : 11:58 p.m.
oh course not.. he has been released on thursday and is walking the streets full of children... smh
SonnyDog09
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 4:17 p.m.
Lying to police is a crime. But, when the police lie to us, it's just good police work.
Jenksy
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 4:02 p.m.
It would be horrible to stumble upon this material... the easy and RIGHT thing to do is shut the door, call the police immediately and inform management of the storage facility. Does anybody think an innocent bystander would remove this disturbing material and take it to their home? He was not just an unfortunate individual as "An Arborigine" suggests.
Matt Cooper
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 8:34 p.m.
Tano, do you not get that possession of child porn, all by itself, is a felony in the state of Michigan? You keep going on and on about how he called the police (which in fact he did not..."Wilkerson removed the vast majority of the suspected child pornography and did not call police, according to investigators.") Regardless of all other factors, he made a choice to remove the materials from the storage space to his own home, he made a choice to take posession of said child porn. This is in fact a crime.
Jenksy
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 7:10 p.m.
Tano, it's not like he found material that may or may not have been stolen or may or may not have been illegal to posess... it seems it was very clear what he found and either took home or destroyed. Your use of the term "report" might be a bit presumptuous. Did he actually file a report or simply mention to the staff "he had discovered what appeared to be a small room set up for the production of child pornography,"
Tano
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 5:48 p.m.
So why did he report it? Seriously, we can all agree that he should have called the police, not just the company. But how could he think anything but that the company would in turn report it to the police? I agree that taking some home and destroying some of it makes no sense, but it also makes no sense to claim that he was somehow trying to keep the stuff for himself. Why would he report it then?
Hmm
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 1:53 p.m.
I'm still not sure exactly what the guy did that got him arrested? He did not call the police right away when they found the child porn? Is that an actual law that you are supposed to call the police? It sounds like he did alert them but then he kept some of what he found? Why would he keep any of it? I'm not sure why the police are going after him like it was his to begin with, they should be going after whomever it was that owned the unit before this couple purchased it. IF he did keep any of it he should probably not have done that though that's for sure!
trespass
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 6:50 p.m.
People are assuming that he knew he had the material in his home but he may have thrown out what was in plain view but he may not have even opened all of the boxes he brought back to his home from the auction. There is some case law that says that if you didn't know some images were on your computer (e.g. in a hidden cache) then you are not guilty of possession. It seems like it would be the same if there were some pictures in an unopened box that he didn't know about.
Paul
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 6:27 p.m.
Hey, what about the owner of the storage building, how come they aren't being charged...well landlords have fancy big buck lawyers, its easier to go after the little people
Paul
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 6:25 p.m.
Lesson number, one, don't buy something you can not first see. Why put yourself in a spot in the first place ? Maybe these hidden auctions should be banned, whats so hard in inspecting the units before auctioning them off ?
Tano
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 5:45 p.m.
Solitude, Did you read the part where the only reason the cops knew anything about this was because he reported it - albeit to the storage company... Why did he take some home, and why did he destroy some of it..AFTER reporting it? Maybe logic is not his strong suit, but it doesn't really strike me as criminal...
Solitude
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 4:09 p.m.
Did you read the part where he took what he found home, then the police had to search his house to get it back?
KMHall
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 3:36 p.m.
Yes having it in the home was apparently the big no no. If you come across this crap, drop it on the ground immediately and dial 911.
fanny
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 2:46 p.m.
Hmm,I believe that it is illegal to possess child pornography on any level. He threw some of the porn away, but the police also found some inside his home. Why not call the police immediately after finding this "trash" and why keep ANY of it??
Tano
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 1:26 p.m.
Seems a bit odd to be prosecuting Wilkerson. Granted, he should have contacted the police right away, but he did inform the storage company, who in turn told the police, so it is not like he was trying to keep the stuff. The police only found out about all this because he made it known - indirectly. Unless.....well, I wonder what the "lying to police" entails...
Matt Cooper
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 8:29 p.m.
Actually, posession of child pornography is a felony unto itself, and conviction of/for possession is not dependant on any outside investigation. Either he possesed the materials, or he did not possess the materials, and the fact that he moved certain of the materials from one location to another demonstrates beyond all doubt that he did in fact have and maintain possession of those materials. Secondly, A2BnR, no, he did not do the right thing. The right thing would have been to call the police and tell them what he had found in the storage space he bought, or at the very least, if he was so concerned about his warrant, to have his wife call for him and report the porn. There is absolutely no justification, morally or legally, for him taking the materials from that storage space to his home. Finally, Paul..."If you refuse to talk to the police, it puts you like in a spot but then if you do speak and not be 100% truthful, you are breaking the law.". There is no law the requires you to talk to the police at all, let alone be "100% truthful". See, there's this thing called the 'right to remain silent' from a case titled Miranda V. Arizona. Study up on it.
trespass
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 6:45 p.m.
@John- Are you sure that it is a crime to "destroy evidence". A person is not even required to report a crime. If you obstruct an investigation, that is a crime but at the point he destroyed whatever he did, there was no criminal investigation.
Paul
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 6:22 p.m.
If you refuse to talk to the police, it puts you like in a spot but then if you do speak and not be 100% truthful, you are breaking the law. In fact, even if you are 100% truthful but the police believe you are lying to them, you could end up in jail. Why its best to have a lawyer with you when speaking with the police but who's going to pay for your lawyer, U have to until you get charged with a crime and can't afford a lawyer. All because the dude was hoping to make a few bucks buy a storage unit, guess he should had stay in bed that morning.
Jenksy
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 4:06 p.m.
This story indicates he did keep some stuff... so was he hoping to blackmail the pervious owner? Regardless of his intentions he found a way to get involved by taking it home... that to me (and I think most of society) is reason to think he is guilty of a crime.
John of Saline
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 3:48 p.m.
He destroyed evidence. No defense for that.
A2 Born n Raised
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 1:51 p.m.
I agree! Here is a guy who has a warrant out of another county and has discovered child porn - a real dilemma as if he notifies the police, he will get arrested! He finally realizes how important it is to report and then is arrested for possession of it! He did the right thing, even if it was late. His name has been plastered all over and the perpetrator has not been publicly identified. This whole story reads wrong on so many levels...
trespass
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 9:21 a.m.
@Kyle- You should adopt Lee Higgins policy of requesting the search warrant on all major cases. That is how Lee found out about the delay in reporting the child pornography at the University of Michigan. Also request authopsy reports, and specifically request the reports of the scene investigation by the Medical Examiners investigators. You will probably find a lot of interesting information in those reports as well.
Kyle Feldscher
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 1:21 p.m.
Thanks for the tip, trespass. I do this on a case to case basis, but you are right in saying that it would be a good idea to do it for all major ones.
An Arborigine
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 2:38 a.m.
At least they charged the guy who stored the stuff, not the unfortunate couple that purchased it.
A2comments
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 11:24 a.m.
Clueless
obviouscomment
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 3:42 a.m.
um...did you read the article???
TryingToBeObjective
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 3:36 a.m.
Wilkerson IS the guy who bought the unit. He was charged for mishandling things after HE bought the unit. Police also charged the unidentified 53 year old previous owner of the unit. The only one not charged was Wilkersons fiancé.
Mark Hergott
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 12:46 a.m.
It would appear that Wilkerson has been smitten with poor decision making skills and bad luck. That is a terrible combination, indeed. In any event, I do hope he learns from this episode. I hope, but I don't expect.
Paul
Wed, Jul 24, 2013 : 12:44 a.m.
Hmm, seems like there was loads of stuff, not just a few pictures of kids in lingerie and what a record. Now he is in deep ....
smh
Sat, Jul 27, 2013 : 11:55 p.m.
hes not even in jail at this time.. he got out thursday....its crazy theres kids everywhere around him... he lives in the same area as i do... they found more child porn in his home.. but yet hes not in jail... wow.... talking about the 52 yr old