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HEBER — After a porn-sniffing dog known as URL searched his residence, a Heber man is facing charges in connection with sending harmful material to whom he thought was a minor, officials said.

The Heber City Police Department assisted the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force in serving a knock and announce warrant at Russell David Neilson’s home Thursday morning, and URL was deployed during the search warrant, according to the Heber City Police Department.

Neilson allegedly intended to send harmful material to a minor, but he was actually commuicating with an ICAC Task Force member in Pinal County, Arizona, police said.

Following the search, Neilson was charged on suspicion of enticing a minor, a third-degree felony, and attempt to commit a crime, also a third-degree felony, police said.

URL is the first electronic detection K-9 in Utah. He is capable of finding SD cards, SIM cards, USB sticks, thumb drives, cell phones, iPads, tablets and more.

The dog is trained to smell common chemicals that are in devices that store electronic media. He can’t determine if there is child pornography stored on the devices, but he can find devices that people looking at child pornography might hide.

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