August M
Warning: This article contains graphic content. For years, U.S. investigator Greg Squire has worked in one of law enforcement’s most disturbing fields: identifying children depicted in online sexual abuse material.
According to BBC reporting, the emotional weight of that work nearly broke him before one case involving a girl known as “Lucy” became a turning point.
The toll of the job
Squire, who works for Homeland Security Investigations, spent years tracking predators operating on the dark web. The material he reviewed daily had a deep psychological impact.
He told the BBC that alcohol became “a bigger part of my life than it should have been,” and eventually his marriage collapsed. At one point, he experienced suicidal thoughts before seeking professional help.
“It’s hard when the thing that brings you so much energy and drive is also the thing that’s slowly destroying you,” said his colleague Pete Manning.
Despite the strain, Squire continued working cases, including Lucy’s.
A case at a standstill
Lucy was 12 when investigators began trying to identify her. Images of her abuse were circulating on encrypted networks, carefully edited to remove obvious clues.
From electrical outlets visible in the background, investigators determined she was likely in North America. Beyond that, leads were scarce.
The team asked Facebook to assist by searching uploaded family photos using facial recognition. The company declined, telling the BBC: “To protect user privacy, it’s important that we follow the appropriate legal process, but we work to support law enforcement as much as we can.”
Piecing together clues
With few technological options, investigators analyzed every object visible in the images.
A sofa seen in the room was traced to a regional retailer, narrowing possible buyers to tens of thousands across multiple states.
The breakthrough came from an exposed brick wall in Lucy’s bedroom. Squire contacted the Brick Industry Association, which shared the image with experts.
Brick salesman John Harp identified it as a “Flaming Alamo,” produced decades earlier in the US southwest. Because bricks are heavy and rarely shipped long distances, investigators were able to focus on homes within roughly 100 miles of the factory.
Narrowing the search
Combining that information with the sofa’s customer list reduced the potential addresses to a few dozen.
Social media research led investigators to a household where Lucy appeared in photos. Records checks identified a man living there with a prior sex offense conviction.
He was arrested within hours. Prosecutors later said he had abused Lucy for six years and he was sentenced to more than 70 years in prison.
A long-awaited meeting
Last summer, Squire met Lucy, now in her 20s. She told him that before the arrest she had been “praying actively for it to end.”
“Not to sound cliché, but it was a prayer answered,” she said.
For Squire, the case reinforced why he chose to stay in a job that had nearly overwhelmed him.
“I feel honoured to be part of the team that can make a difference,” he told the BBC.
Source: Reporting by BBC World Service.
