Polk County, Florida, law enforcement officers arrested five men and a 16-year-old juvenile this week after they were found to be in possession of child pornography.
Police said Alejandro Manuel Resto Rodriguez, 20, of Winter Haven; Jonathan Omar Baez Rivera, 18, of Haines City; Ian James Vache, 47, of Lakeland; Marco Cepeda, Jr., 24, of Lakeland; Emanuel Paulino-Correa, 18, of Poinciana; and a 16-year-old male from Davenport all face child pornography-related charges.
Polk County Sheriff’s Office arrests five men and one juvenile for possession of child pornography
(Polk County Sheriff’s Office)
Investigations into the suspects started when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children notified detectives that child pornography was being passed around over the internet by the individuals.
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Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in a press release that the images and videos found during the investigation were “horrific,” vowing to protect children from anyone who possesses, trades or distributes child pornography.
“These men are part of a worldwide underground child pornography distribution market – the demand for this vile material harms children and ruins lives,” Grady said. “I appreciate the hard work our detectives did that was necessary to file these charges. Working to keep our children safe is the most important thing we do.”
The victim and suspect allegedly met on the social media app Snapchat, according to police
(Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto)
Police said Rodriguez was charged with 94 counts of child pornography possession after his cellphone allegedly contained 94 files of children between a few months old to 8 years old engaging in “lewd acts.”
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Rivera, police said, faces 17 counts of possession of child pornography after allegedly using Snapchat to view child pornography. His cellphone, according to police, contained files of children between the ages of 1 and 9 engaging in lewd acts.
Vache’s cellphone, police said, had 160 files of child pornography with some of the children younger than 6 months old.
While on the scene, detectives found a glass pipe with amphetamine, the press release read.
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Police charged Cepeda with seven counts of child pornography and Paulino-Correa with 30 counts.
The 16-year-old was charged with 25 counts of child pornography, as well.
Police said in each investigation, additional electronic devices were confiscated so a forensic search could be conducted. If additional child pornography is found, police added, the suspects will be charged accordingly.
