LEBANON — Talk about the long arm of the law.

Lebanon police helped Swedish police identify and nab a 22-year-old man in Sweden who was allegedly sexually exploiting a 12-year-old Lebanon juvenile over the internet.

Kim Niklasson, 22, of Växjö, Sweden, has been charged with child rape over the internet and is in custody by authorities in Sweden following a joint multi-month investigation between the Lebanon Police Department and the Swedish Police Authority, Lebanon police said in a news release this week.

A state court also has issued an arrest warrant for Niklasson charging him with felony counts of illegal use of computer services, producing child pornography and endangering a child’s welfare, police said.

Niklasson’s identification, arrest and charges came about as the result of an unusual collaboration between a local New Hampshire police department and a foreign police agency. The effort was made possible by Lebanon’s investment in cybercrime-fighting resources and technology that helped two law enforcement agencies at different points on the globe communicate easily, according to Lebanon police.

“We’re very lucky to have a cybercrime unit that is so well equipped and officers who are trained. This type of investigation would not have been possible 10 years ago,” said Richard Norris, a lieutenant on the Lebanon police force who oversees the Cyber Crimes Unit.

Lebanon’s CCU, formed in 2017 to investigate crimes — typically of financial or sexual nature that occur using computers and the internet — is believed by Lebanon police to be one of the few of its kind among local police departments outside of major cities in the state.

(The Grafton County Sheriff’s Office has had a highly regarded cybercrime unit, which is in the process of being transferred, along with two sheriff deputies, to the Lincoln, N.H., police department).

Local police departments that do not have personnel trained for cyber investigations typically turn to the National Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, based in Portsmouth, which utilizes state and national investigators and resources at its disposal.

The rise of online crime, however, is forcing even smaller police departments to get with the digital program.

“Across the state, it’s not unusual for smaller agencies to have individuals who investigate cybercrimes. In the current digital age, detectives at almost every agency are likely investigating some sort of cybercrime,” said Lt. Tamara Hester, who oversees the Special Investigations Unit with the New Hampshire State Police.

Hester noted that “not all may have a whole unit they call a ‘CCU’, and some detectives may have more training than others in areas such as cellphone analysis, computer forensics or obtaining and reviewing digital records.”

Local police departments that do not have personnel trained for cyber investigations typically turn to the National Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, based in Portsmouth, which utilizes state and national investigators and resources.

Lebanon’s cyber team, however, is well-equipped, Lebanon Police Chief Phil Roberts said.

The unit now has nine Lebanon police officers — four added in the last year alone — who are tapped from the detective and patrol ranks and who have gone through varying levels of training to learn how to use the suite of electronic databases, search tools and forensic programs required for cyber investigations.

“Some have been trained more than others on specific aspects,” Roberts said, explaining all nine officers are pulled in on an as-needed basis as part of their normal duties.

Lebanon police were alerted in March by the state’s Division for Children, Youth and Families to a report of a 12-year-old female residing in Lebanon who was being sexually exploited online, Norris said.

Police applied for and were approved search warrants to nine separate “electronic service providers” — which Norris would not identify but can include anything from a cellphone service company to social media apps such as Instagram — to discover the activity taking place and possible parties involved.

In this case, Lebanon police were able to determine that the victim was being exploited through a gaming platform by a someone located in Sweden.

Using databases and electronic search tools available only to law enforcement — and for which Lebanon police pay an annual subscription fee — they were even able to obtain “corroborating evidence” of the suspect’s identity.

Norris said the sleuthing took up “hundreds of hours” of time of Lebanon officers, who work in the unit on a part-time basis in addition to their regular detective or patrol duties.

Problem was, the suspect resided in Sweden, which is out of Lebanon police’s jurisdiction.

So Lebanon police contacted the U.S. Secret Service representative at The Hague in the Netherlands, where cooperative European law enforcement agencies are based, who put Lebanon police in touch with counterparts at the Swedish Police Authority.

That was in October, nearly seven months after Lebanon first began its investigation. Lebanon police shared the case file with Swedish police, who began their own investigation.

For the first time, Lebanon police held video conference meetings over Microsoft Teams with their counterparts in Sweden (prior communications with overseas police agencies happened via email).

Communication was not a problem.

“They speak English,” Norris said of Swedish police, describing the SPA as “very, good, very professional.”

In November, Swedish police executed a search at Niklasson’s residence in Växjö, where they uncovered supporting evidence incriminating Niklasson, including a “sexually explicit video on one of his devices connecting him to our victim in New Hampshire,” Norris said.

Swedish police arrested Niklasson and charged him under Swedish law with child rape via the internet, according to Lebanon police.

Norris said his last update from Swedish police on Nov. 21 reported that Niklasson was in custody.

Niklasson’s fate is now in the hands of Sweden’s criminal justice system. Although Lebanon police said they are not seeking his extradition to New Hampshire to face charges, the court-approved arrest warrant with felony charges assures that he will be subject to arrest if he ever enters the U.S.

Lebanon police spend about $68,000 a year on its Cyber Crimes Unit. Most of the money goes to pay for annual subscription to databases and other software, along with some special hardware. A locked room has been set aside at the police station dedicated to the unit.

The unit has helped to identify and charge suspects involved with two other sexual exploitation crimes, a stalking crime and a financial crime, according to Norris.

“I’m incredibly proud of this unit,” Norris said of his team. “They are incredibly dedicated. When it comes to cases like this one in particular they are viewing horrendous content. But they keep on going and are determined to find these perpetrators. I think Lebanon taxpayers should be proud, too.”

Contact John Lippman at jlippman@vnews.com.