Provo detective honored for rescuing girl in ‘rare’ child sexual exploitation case

PROVO — A Provo police detective who was recently recognized for his efforts in rescuing a 10-year-old girl is speaking out about his experience.

Detective Dalton Carmichael recently received the Internet Crimes Against Children “Rescue of the Year” award for tracking down two suspects, including the victim’s own mother, and rescuing the child.

“There is no doubt that he and the Provo (Special Victims Unit) made a difference in this little girl’s life,” said ICAC Cmdr. Sete Aulai.

Carmichael, a six-year veteran joined the special victim’s unit a year ago.

“I’ve always liked taking down bad guys,” he said. “… In this particular field, it’s the worst kind of bad guys.”

In September, Carmichael received an alarming tip about content flagged on the social media messaging app Kik.

“I got a phone call from the attorney general’s office. There was a priority one cyber tip. Priority one means there is a hands-on offender in the home,” Carmichael said.

Within three days, Carmichael was able to track down the prime suspect, the girl’s 38-year-old mother, and also identified a second abuser.

Carmichael discovered that the mother was allegedly “taking sexual pictures and videos” of her daughter over several years for the suspect, identified as Chris Alan Seamann, 52, of Mesquite, Nevada, according to charging documents.

Seamann, a registered sex offender, is accused of paying the mother “$20 a session” to create child sexual abuse material.

“Chris would also buy the victim gifts and treats for sexual acts,” according to charging documents.

“It’s a rare case and not common,” Carmichael said.

The mother was charged with 44 counts: 16 counts of human trafficking of a child, 16 counts of aggravated sexual exploitation of a child, eight counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, rape of a child, sodomy on a child and object rape of a child, all first-degree felonies; and lewdness involving a child, a third-degree felony.

“There’s not a specific demographic. There’s not a specific type of person. And that’s the scary thing about these types of cases is that it can be anyone,” Carmichael said.

As for the little girl, Carmichael struggled to hold back his emotions knowing what she had suffered.

“It’s a great feeling to know the (abuse has stopped.) I just hope she has a good life,” Carmichael said, holding back emotion. “Since having a kid, I don’t know if emotional is the best word, but it’s good.”

The nature of Carmichael’s work is challenging and emotionally draining, but he said it’s all part of the calling he answered.

“Our job is just to save children and you know we call it ‘doing the Lord’s work,’” Carmichael said.

Speaking of the award he received, Carmichael said his efforts were just one part of a wider operation to save the young child.

“My name is on the award but it’s so much bigger than me. The attorney general’s office was a huge help; (Division of Child and Family Services), our special operations division, the entire SVU team. It’s really a team award,” Carmichael said. “The National Center of Missing and Exploited Children did a lot of their own investigation as well. Pretty much my job was to find the suspect’s name here in Provo and track it down to a house here.”

“We are proud of Detective Carmichael, our entire SVU team, and partner agencies who work tirelessly to seek justice for the most vulnerable in our community,” the Provo Police Department said.

The ICAC Taskforce, which operates under the Utah Attorney General’s Office, is a multi-jurisdiction task force that investigates and prosecutes individuals who use the internet to exploit children.

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Editor’s note: KSL TV has not identified the mother in this case to protect the young victim’s identity.

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CSAM Prevention Resources and Victim Recovery: 

• The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children provides support to children who are victims of child sexual exploitation through emotional peer support for families, content removal of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and help getting connected to therapists and attorneys. The NCMEC also provides a CyberTipline where CSAM can be reported. Visit https://www.missingkids.org/gethelpnow/csam-resources for more information. 
• The Utah Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force hosts a hub of resources for parents and offers local help to cases involving child sexual exploitation. 
• RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) provides a guide of safety measures to take in order to prevent children from being targeted in CSAM cases. 
• Thorn nonprofit organization creates products and programs that combat child sexual abuse at scale. It provides resources for families to help them identify the possible ways children can be exploited online, giving them proper terminology and statistics to keep them educated. For more information, visit https://www.thorn.org/research/child-sexual-abuse-material-csam/ 

Utah Domestic Violence Coalition operates a confidential statewide, 24-hour domestic abuse hotline at 1-800-897-LINK (5465). Resources are also available online: udvc.org. The statewide child abuse and neglect hotline is 1-855-323-DCFS (3237).