Geek Squad Alerts Pasco County Authorities to Alleged Child Porn on Teachers Computer

A Pasco County teacher was arrested last week after a trip to Best Buy resulted in child pornography charges.

According to an arrest report, a Geek Squad member found images of a young girl engaging in sex acts with a man on the 69-year-old Wesley Chapel man’s computer. The man is a former middle school teacher.

Best Buy said in a statement, “When Geek Squad employees inadvertently discover what may be child pornography in the normal course of repairing a computer, they are required to notify their supervisors, who may in turn contact local law enforcement. We inform our customers of this policy prior to doing any work.”

Deputies obtained a warrant to search the man’s computer in August. When asked why he wasn’t arrested until this week, Pasco County Sheriff’s Office Community Relations Director Kevin Doll said the review of the computer’s contents didn’t happen until December because of the heavy workload of detectives in the Cyber Crimes Unit.

The sheriff’s office is part of the 17-county Central Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. According to Doll, the Pasco Sheriff’s Office is among the agencies in that group that receives the highest amount of tips of possible child pornography possession.

On top of that, it can take days or weeks to go through files on a computer once a digital download of a machine is complete.

The man made his first appearance in court Wednesday. Circuit Court Judge Linda Babb granted the state’s request to increase the man’s bond. She set it at $20,000 for each of the ten counts of possession of child pornography he faces, or $200,000.

The man resigned from his position at the middle school prior to his arrest, according to a district spokesperson.

If you take a computer in to be repaired by a technician and there is child porn found on it, the technician will alert authorities to what they have found.

While being arrestd for child porn can be quite overhwhelming, it is important to note that there are possible defenses available to an individual charged with child pornography crimes. The Internet places digital footprints on virtually all types of digital media, including pictures, videos, film, and online content.

The following are a few defenses that may be applied to child pornography cases:

• Illegal search of digital equipment, including computers, laptops, tablets, smartphones, hard drives, etc.
• The content in question does not belong to the accused person
• While searching online for something, the accused mistakenly found child pornographic content instead

Child pornography crimes require a strong defense strategy. A Florida Child Pornography Defense Attorney at Whittel & Melton is one of the most important people that can help somoene facing accusations of child porn. We will pay extra attention to the evidence collected and the method of collection in order to pursue an appropriate legal strategy to address the charges.

Being arrested fro a child pornography crimes is multi-faceted. Early on, the accused may be under investigation for their alleged involvement in child porn, but have no idea they are a suspect in a criminal investigation. Once the police feel they have enough evidence against the accused, they will then go to the accused person’s home or place of business to make an arrest and search and seize any other evidence they feel will help their case.

After child pornography charges are filed, our Florida Child Porn Defense Attorneys at Whittel & Melton can begin collecting evidence to exculpate or minimize the sentence of the accused person before trial. A good majority of these cases will go to trial, which is why hiring a child pornography attorney is critical to preparing an aggresisve defense strategy.

Once you are arrested for a child pornography crime, the fallout from that arrest is immediate. These crimes get rapid media interest and immediately impact the accused person’s work and home life. Even if the person accused of committing a child pornography crime is later acquitted or exonerated, the harm done to their reputation is everlasting and future employment opportunities can still be limited.

If you are facing a child pornography charge in Florida, let us help you establish a legal defense to these crimes and related offenses. The earlier you get in touch with us, the better our chances of possibly being able to prevent criminal charges from being filed against you or at least mitigate the final result if charges are pursued.