AFFIDAVIT IN SUPPORT OF CRIMINAL COMPLAINT

I, Jason Stewart, being first duly sworn, hereby depose and state asJollows:

INTRODUCTION AND AGENT BACKGROUND

1. I have been employed as a.Special Agent since May of 2017. I am cur.rently

assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force (J'ITF) at the Knoxville Field Office of th'3 FBI. My

primary duties and responsibilities involve the investigation of violations of federal law

including violent crime as found in Title 18 of the United States Code and the Controlled

Substances Act as found in Title 21 of the United States Code. I have investigated federal

criminal violations including Domestic Te11'0rism Organizations (DTO), violent crime and_gangs,

drng trafficking organizations, criminal ente1prises, fugitives, and Violent Crimes Against

Children. Prior to serving with the FBI, I was an officer in the United States Army for eight

years, and a police officer with the-Knoxville Polfoe Department in Tennessee for two years. I

have received formal training in investig~tions at the Knoxville Police Academy in Tennessee,

and the FBIActtdemy in Quantico, Virginia. As an.FBI Special Agent~ I am authorized to

investigate violations relating to child exploitation and Child SexuaiAbuseMaterial (CSAM),

including the p1'0duction, transportation, receipt; distribution, and possession of CSAM, in

violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2251 and .2252A, ~swell as the ~nticement and coercion ofminors, in

violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b). I have gained expeiience in conducting these iilvestigations I

through training and through eve1yday work, including executing search wa11·ants and

interviewing indivi~uals who trade CSAM and who seek to sexually explpit children. As part of

my training and experience, I have observed and reviewed numerous ex$nples of CSAM, as

defined in I 8 U.S. C. § 2256, in multiple forms of llledia. I have been trained by .the FBI in the

acquisition, imaging, extraction, a11d analysis

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of: digital evidence from computers,. cellµ(m·
GOVERNMENT
EXHIBJf

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. ._, 3:24-MJ-2065

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telephones, and othe1' electronic devices. I have also been trained by the FBI in digital image and

video tecove1y, I have attended several courses on cybersecurity and cyber investigations

provided by the FBI and private industr.y.

2. This affidavit is in support of an anest warrant for Kyle William SPITZE

(hereafter SPITZE)., a 24-yeat--old white male.

3. T~s affidavit is intended to show merely that there is sufficient pmbable cause for

the requested complaint and does not set forth all of my knowledge about this matter.

4. Based on my training and experience and the facts as set f01;th in this affidavit,

there is probable cause to believe that SPITZE violated Title 18 United States Code· §2251(a)
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and (e) Sexual Exploitation of Children.

PROBABLE CAUSE
5. FBI has been investigating SPITZE and others

~.,,, ,. - - - I

-~ - - - ~ _' ~- -- ~ ~ ~ -. =--- - - - - : OnFeb1·t.1a1y 10, 2024, a Federal search

warrant for SPITZE's blackApple iPhone (hereafte1~ SPITZE's iPhone) was issued in the

Eastern District of Tennessee - Knoxville. The affidavit is incorporate herein as ExhlbitA. (See,

24-MJ• . FBI Agents seized SPITZE's iPhone 1ate1' that day from Peninsula Behaviol'al

Health.

REVIEW OF KYLE SPITZE'S IPHONE

6. On February 16, 2024, S.PITZE's iPhone was forensically examined by the FBI's

Computer Analysis Response Team (CART).

' ·--- ---- ----:-~-::;~,:::-:::_-_- ~:--,- - , - -
~ - - =- -,- .=. ----'_ : -- _· - - -~ - - -

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The remaining albums were labeled with

nicknames or were.descriptions of their contents, such as "cut signs." All of the albums.

contained similar violent and/or sexual content.

7. One album was labeled with the name of Minor Victim 11 (he1·eafter MVl). In

MV1 's folder were approximately 16 images and 4 videos. Yo111' A:ffiant believes the images and

videos all have MVl in them or she was ordered to create them or both.

8. One image in MVl 's folder was of a bare vagina being spread apart with fingers

(hereinafter CSAM Image 1), Another image m. MVl 's folder was of a female, nude from the
naval. down, with her pubic area ~xposed (hereinafter CSAM Image 2).

9. FBI CART identified metadata for at least one of the videos located 111 MV1 's

folder that gave a latitude and longitude to the location where the video was taken. Based on that

information, the FBI was able to identify MV1 and contact her parents. MVl agreed to a forensic

interview (Fl), Your Affiant would note MV1 is located outside of Tennessee.

10. Your Affiant recognizes a few of the images and videos in MVl 's folder from the

- h y p e video posted ~n the -telegram channel titled ''Our Gkls".described

:in paragraph 38 of the 3:24-MJ-lllllllaffidavit (pre~iously inco1porated and attached hel'eto as

ExhibitA).

11. FBI CART also located the Telegram application on SPITZE's iPhone, which

was logged in to Telegram account "criminal" when it was seized. In the Telegram application

were messages between "criminal" and MV1 between January 29, 2024, and Februaiy 5, 2024.

MVl sent a message saying, "kyle." Seven days later ."criminal" replied, "leave me alone

[MV1 's name]:~,

1 Minor Victim 1's true identity and age are known to Jaw enforcement.

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 12. SPITZE's iPhone contained thousands of iMessages between MV1 and SPITZE

between July 2023 and October 2023.

13. On Janu~ 19, 2024, SPiTZE, using the Telegram account "criminal",

distributed MVl 's information

SPITZE replied, "she's in the content channel. .. cutting her

tongue and nude,"

FORENSIC INTERVIEW OF MVl

14. On February 20, 2024., an FBI Child and Adolescent Forensic Interviewer (CAFI)

interviewed MV1. Your Affiant was present for the interview. During the FI, MV1 said SPITZE

operated the "criminal" persona on Discord and Telegram. MVl identified herself in CSAM

Image 1 and CSAM hnage 2, and stated she took the images at SPITZE 's demand and_ sent them

to him. MVl said sh.e was 12 years old when the images were taken. MV1 said SPITZE

demanded CSAM and self-harm images and videos of.her on several occasions. Your Aftfant

·would note the metadata in CSAM Images 1 and 2 corroborates that MVl was 12 years old when

the images-were taken.

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I CONCLUSION

15. Based on the fo1'egoing, there is probable cause to believe that Kyle William

SPITZE committed violations ofTit1~ 18, United States Code §2251(a) and (e) Sexual

Exploitation of Children.

FURTHERAFFIANT SAYETH NAUGHT.

Executed this 21st day of February 2023

At Knoxville, Tennessee.

Jason~wart
Special Agent
Federal Bureau Investigation

Subscribed and swom to before me on this 21 st day ofFebruary 2024.

ON RABLJILL E, McCOOK
UNITED STATES MAGISTRAJE JUDGE
EASTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE

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 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
AT KNOXVlLLE

INTIIBMATTEROFT.HESEARCHOFA
BLACK APPLE IPHONE BELONGING TO Case No. 3:24. .MJ
KYLE SPITZE CURRENTLY IN THE
CUSTODY OF PENINSULA Filed.Under Seal
BEHAVIORALHEALTII, ·2347 JONES
BEND ROAD, LOUISVILLE., TENNESSEE

. AFFIDAVIT IN SUPPORT OF

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