Possession Of Child Pornography Charges Filed Against 5 Polk Men

POLK COUNTY, FL — Detectives from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office Computer Crimes Unit charged five men with possession of child pornography after receiving tips from the National Center for Missing and Endangered Children that the men were possibly transmitting or downloading sexual images and videos of children.

According to Sheriff Grady Judd, detectives served search warrants at the homes of the five men over the course of two weeks and seized multiple digital devices for forensic analysis, according to a Polk County Sheriff's Office news release.

“Through our partnership with NCMEC and concerned citizens who saw something and said something, we are able to take criminals who engage in the child pornography trade off the street," Judd said in a statement. "Those who buy, sell, trade and download child sex abuse images support leading to further child abuse and create more child victims. Please, if you see something while you are online or on mobile apps, say something. Contact your local law enforcement agency or go to NCMEC’s CyberTipline to report suspicious online activity.”

Those arrested include Jerry Wilson, 59, of Mulberry, who was charged with 330 counts of enhanced possession of child pornography after detectives said a search of Wilson's electronic devices showed one actively downloading child pornography at the time the search warrant was served. So far, detectives said they found 330 images depicting children as young as 6 months old being sexually battered, according to the sheriff's office news release.

An enhanced felony charge indicate that more than 10 images or videos were found in which at least one depicted a child being sexually abused.

Wilson admitted to having child pornography on his two cell phones and a tablet. He also told detectives he had been viewing child pornography his entire life, according to the release.

He was booked into the Polk County Jail on July 1, and is being held on $4.9 million bail ($15,000 per charge), said the sheriff's office.

His criminal history includes seven felonies and 12 misdemeanors for sexual assault, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, burglary, aggravated assault, battery, domestic violence battery and driving under the influence.

Wilson has been imprisoned twice: once for violation of probation (burglary and lewd and lascivious conviction) and then for aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer.

Also arrested was 26-year-old Christopher Montalvo of Lakeland, charged with 120 counts of enhanced possession of child pornography and one count of promoting a sexual performance by a child. During a preliminary preview of his electronic devices, detectives said they found 120 images and videos depicting children as young as 12 months old being sexually battered.

Montalvo told detectives he has been looking at child pornography since 2014, and he has created multiple social media accounts because he keeps getting banned from social media platforms, said the sheriff's office.

He was booked into the Polk County Jail on June 27, and is being held on $1.2 million bail ($10,000 per charge).

Shane Dugan, 21, of Lakeland has been charged with 10 counts of possession of child pornography after a search warrant was executed on his home. During an initial search of his electronic devices, detectives said they found eight images and videos depicting children as young as 6 years old being sexually battered.

During further forensics analysis of Dugan’s devices, detectives discovered two more files depicting children being sexually battered

Dugan admitted to detectives that he had been downloading child pornography for the past several months and that he knew it was wrong, said the sheriff's office.

He was booked into the Polk County Jail on June 24, and is being held with no bail.

Demian Veliz, 55, of Davenport was arrested and charged with seven counts of possession of child pornography and one count of promoting a sexual performance by a child after detectives served a search warrant at his home, said the sheriff's office. Detectives said they found seven images on his electronic devices showing children as young as 9 years old being sexually battered.

Veliz told detectives he had been using file-sharing software to download child pornography, according to the news release.

He was booked into the Polk County Jail on June 28, and was released on a $45,000 bond.

Bryant Whatley, 19, of Lake Alfred was arrested and charged with one count of possession of child pornography and one count of promoting a sexual performance by a child.

When detectives examined his electronic devices, they found one image of a child around 3 years old being sexually battered. Detectives also discovered evidence that Whatley had shared child pornography on Instagram, according to the sheriff's office.

Whatley admitted to detectives he had child pornography on his cell phone.

He was booked into the Polk County Jail on June 29, and was released after paying a $15,000 bond.

Each of those arrested faces additional charges if more illegal content is found.

The child pornography images seized during this investigation do not appear to depict Polk County children, but detectives are attempting to identify them, Judd said.