On Sept. 16,2022, the Blaine County Sheriff’s Office executed an arrest warrant in Okeene and took Randall Laubach into custody.
Blaine County Sheriff Travis Daugherty said his office received an email from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, Internet Crimes Against Children division. That email referenced a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, alleging child pornography had been accessed from a computer in Okeene.
Daugherty outlined the extensive investigating that goes into establishing where pornography comes from and where it eventually goes to, and to determine who accessed the images.
A series of search warrants are required before contact is made with a suspect.
“When we had determined there was, in fact, child porn involved, the suspect was placed under arrest by the Blaine County Sheriff’s Office,” Daugherty said.
Multiple electronic devices, including computers and storage chips were seized during the search of the home and the images on those electronics lead to four counts of aggravated possession of child porn and one count of Oklahoma Computers Act violation.
The probable cause affidavit was read to a judge, who set cash bond at $20,000.
In April of this year, a federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment against Laubach. The first count charged him with transporting child pornography and the second charged him with possession of prepubescent child porn.
He was placed in federal custody in July of this year.
Even though Laubach was arrested in September 2022, the indictment reads he was in possession of the illegal material in June 2022.
He is alleged to have had possession of more than 50 terabytes stored on multiple digital sources, including his cell phone.
In July 2023, Laubach pleaded guilty to count 2 and admitted he had possessed child pornography for the past 20 years.
On December 21, Laubach was sentenced to 78 months – more than six years – in a federal prison on the charges. He will also face eight years of supervised release when his jail time is completed.
This conviction is the result of an investigation by the Blaine County Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations and the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany Edgmon prosecuted the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative by the Department of Justice to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.
Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the DOJ Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.