The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is excited to announce the addition of a new canine deputy, Tera. Canine Tera is a one-and-a-half-year-old Labrador Retriever. She will be the offices’ newest resource for investigating child exploitation and human trafficking cases.
Canine Tera is an Electronic Storage Detection (ESD) canine and she is specially trained to locate items with an internal storage device including cellular phones, tablets, computers, ‘flash drives,’ SD cards, and many other electronic items. When investigating child exploitation and human trafficking cases, it is not uncommon for the suspect to hide images and videos on electronic devices, and then hide those devices in a building or home. When search warrants are conducted, Canine Tera will be able to walk room to room and locate any hidden electronics.
Canine Tera was trained by Jordan Detective K9 in McCordsville, Indiana. Canine Tera was donated to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office by Operation Underground Railroad, which is a nonprofit organization on a mission to end human trafficking and child exploitation. Operation Underground Railroad provided all of Tera’s food, medical, housing, and training costs.
Canine Tera was partnered with Lake County Sheriff’s Detective Corey Kemp, who specializes in cases involving internet crimes against children, human trafficking, and internet financial crimes. Detective Kemp and Canine Tera recently completed their initial training and are now a certified canine team. The two will not only work on sheriff’s office cases, but will also assist municipal police departments as requested.
Sheriff John D. Idleburg said, “We are so grateful for the generous donation of Canine Tera. She will be a major asset in our fight against human trafficking and child exploitation. I know Canine Tera will do great things for Lake County, just as her seven sheriff’s office canine colleagues and their handlers have over the years.”
Canine Tera joins Lake County Sheriff’s Canines Axel, Boomer, Danno, Dax, Duke, Echo, and Ryker.