Monterey man indicted, charged in TBI ICAC investigation

Published 12:23 pm Wednesday, June 29, 2022

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MONTEREY — Special agents from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, working alongside the Cookeville Police Department and Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, have obtained indictments charging a Monterey man accused of possessing and sharing child sexual abuse material.

In April, after receiving information from the Cookeville Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Unit, TBI agents assigned to the Technical Services Unit began investigating Michael Joe Phillips, 61. During the investigation, agents developed information Phillips possessed images consistent with child sexual abuse material.

On Monday, the Cumberland County Grand Jury returned indictments, charging Phillips with one count of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor. Tuesday, June 28, authorities arrested Phillips without incident and booked him into the Cumberland County Jail, where, at the time of this release, he was being held on $90,000 bond.

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