Blacklidge previously trained teachers to spot online predators
The case emerged from an 11 January child sexual abuse report involving an underage girl, Spanish Fort police chief John Barber said at a Tuesday news conference. Officers conducted interviews and gathered unspecified evidence before presenting the case to a grand jury, which returned the indictment charging Blacklidge with first- and second-degree rape, sodomy and sexual abuse.
Marshall said he took over the prosecution because Blacklidge is a witness in some cases being handled by the local district attorney’s office, requiring that agency to recuse itself. Marshall said the arrangement reflected what he described as a public obligation “to follow the facts and apply the law regardless of what you’ve done, regardless of where you work and regardless of who you are.”
Blacklidge’s professional responsibilities at HSI had centered on the same types of crimes he now faces, Marshall said. “He was directly involved with child exploitation cases, working with these cases and raising awareness,” Marshall added, and had previously trained public school teachers at a seminar on detecting online predators who target children. Marshall described the situation as “profoundly disappointing and frankly disgusting.”
Blacklidge was placed on administrative leave by HSI as soon as officers began investigating the complaint, according to the Spanish Fort police statement. He was released from jail on bond of more than $350,000, according to facility records and remarks from Marshall. Release conditions include electronic monitoring, home confinement, and a prohibition on contact with the alleged victim or any person under 18.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees HSI, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the charges.
The arrest comes as DHS faces scrutiny over employee vetting practices after the agency received $170 billion in new funding for immigration and border enforcement under the Trump administration. The Associated Press reported in February that another DHS agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, had at least two dozen of its employees and contractors charged with various crimes since 2020.
Barber, the Spanish Fort police chief, said the victim’s decision to come forward took “an unbelievable amount of courage and strength.” Barber and Marshall each argued that the charges against Blacklidge should not reflect on the law enforcement field as a whole.
A message left for Blacklidge at a telephone number associated with him was not immediately returned.