JOHN DOE UNMASKED

Mississippi Police Sergeant ID’d Through Crowd Sourcing as Man in Child Sex Video

Joshua Christopher Stockstill, known as “John Doe 44” to investigators, was identified thanks to the public’s help.

A Mississippi police sergeant was arrested Wednesday for alleged sex crimes against children, including lustful touching, and production and distribution of child exploitation material, the FBI announced. Joshua Christopher Stockstill, 29, first appeared on the radar of investigators in February 2021, when analysts at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) turned over video to the FBI of a man sexually abusing a child. He was heard speaking English in the footage, and had brown hair. But agents couldn’t identify the suspect, and on Wednesday they asked for the public’s help in putting a name to the face they dubbed “John Doe 44.”

Stockstill was arrested and fired from his job a few hours later, NCMEC said in a statement. He was booked into the county jail early Thursday morning.