Registered Sex Offender Reveals To Officers Location of Porn-Packed Thumb Drive, Arrested: Police

SARASOTA, FL – A 69-year-old Sarasota registered sex offender was arrested Friday after telling law enforcement officers, who were executing a search at his home, the location of a computer thumb drive that allegedly contained images and videos of child pornography, police said.

Dannie L. Berry, of the 1100 block of 40th Street, was charged with 20 counts of suspicion of possession of child pornography, the Sarasota Police Department said today.

Berry came to authorities' attention after the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force in December observed his computer's IP address conducting keyword searches for files related to child abuse material, including child pornography, police said.

Last week, a search warrant was issued for the home and electronic storage devices of Berry's, who is registered as a sexual offender after pleading guilty in 1988 to sexual offense charges in Jackson, Or., police said.

Detectives from the Sarasota Police Department and the FBI task force on Friday executed the search warrant, and as officers were reading the warrant details to Berry outside his home, he reportedly said spontaneously, “This is about child pornography.”

When officials told Berry it was, police said he then replied: “All we need to take is the thumb drive in the garage that has child pornography on. It is above the computer in the garage.”

The thumb drive was located and allegedly found to contain approximately 114 videos and four images of child pornography, according to the department.

Berry was arrested and transported to the Sarasota County Jail without incident. He is jailed on a $200,000 bond.

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--Image via SPD