SAN FRANCISCO—A San Francisco summer camp counselor was taken into custody on Thursday, September 15 for child molestation and sending harmful material to a minor charges, according to a press release from the San Francisco Police Department.
On August 2, the SFPD Internet Crimes Against Children Unit started an investigation after a director of a San Francisco summer camp program reported that an adult camp counselor had inappropriate contact with three juvenile campers. The investigation identified the counselor as Even “Devin” Blanchard, 24, a San Francisco resident.
The ICAC Unit investigation had determined that Blanchard had received and sent explicit images and video to the juvenile victims through online social media. It was reported that Blanchard had also inappropriately touched the victims on several different field trips.
The ICAC Unit Investigators were able to obtain a $3 million warrant for Blanchard’s arrest. With the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force they were able to obtain information claiming that Blanchard had fled to Arizona. On the morning of September 15, Blanchard was taken into custody in Phoenix, Arizona by members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force.
Blanchard will remain in police custody in Phoenix pending his extradition to San Francisco. Once he is extradited to San Francisco he will be booked on five counts of child molestation, four counts of sending harmful material to a minor, production of child pornography, and three counts of annoy or molest a child.
Officer Giselle Talkoff, Public Information Officer for the SFPD, told San Francisco News in an email, “We always encourage the victims to come forward so that we can stop the suspect and future crimes from happening, while being empathetic to the fact that crimes of this nature are very personal, sensitive and traumatizing to victims. The SVU/ICAC units work closely with the victims to make sure they feel comfortable when reporting such crimes.”
Anyone who may have been a victim or had suspicious contact with the suspect is asked to contact the SFPD Special Victims Unit at (415) 558-5500.
