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Florida Attorney General's CyberCrime Unit



Last Updated: 12/3/2009

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City: Tallahassee
State: Florida
Country: US

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Wednesday, December 09, 2009 

Current mood:  thankful
Category: News and Politics
December 8, 2009
Phone: (850) 245-0150

Former State Employee Sentenced to 8-Year Prison Term After Sending Nude Photos to Child Over Cell Phone

TALLAHASSEE, FL – A former state employee from St. Petersburg has been sentenced to eight years in prison after he was arrested on charges that he sexually solicited a young Pinellas County teen. Parris Woods, who formerly worked for the Department of Juvenile Justice, was arrested in September 2008 following an investigation initiated by a school resource officer. The arrest was carried out by the Gulfport Police Department and the Attorney General’s CyberCrime Unit.

A recent recipient of the Attorney General’s CyberSafety training, Gulfport School Resource Officer Steven Beltran began investigating Woods after a 14-year old female student reported she had received text messages from a man who claimed to be employed at a local juvenile detention center. The girl reported the text messages from the suspect – whom she had never met – included attached photos apparently depicting the sender in nude and obscene images. Woods also sent a request to meet the girl in person to engage in sexual activity. The Gulfport Police Department contacted the Attorney General’s Tampa Region CyberCrime Task Force, which immediately began assisting with the investigation.

Woods was arrested when law enforcement officers arrived at a designated meeting place and found him waiting to meet the child. He was prosecuted by the CyberCrime Unit working with the State Attorney’s Office for the Sixth Judicial Circuit. In addition to his prison sentence, he must serve two years of house arrest and five years of sex offender probation. Woods will also be required to register with the state as a sexual offender.

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2:56 AM 
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Thursday, December 03, 2009 

Current mood:  determined
Category: News and Politics
November 25, 2009
Phone: (850) 245-0150
Pasco County Man Arrested for Creating Child Pornography

TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that a Pasco County man has been arrested after a CyberCrime investigation determined he was creating child pornography. Kenneth Blage of Zephyrhills was arrested today by law enforcement with the Attorney General’s CyberCrime Unit and the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office with assistance from the Florida Highway Patrol and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

According to investigators, Blage, 41, sexually assaulted at least one young teenage girl and recorded videos of the abuse, thereby creating child pornography. At the time of his arrest, Blage had another criminal case pending against him on charges of lewd and lascivious battery and promoting the sexual performance of another minor. That case is being prosecuted by the State Attorney’s Office for the Sixth Judicial Circuit.

Investigators have determined that Blage has victimized at least two young girls, and anyone who has been victimized by Blage may contact the Tampa CyberCrime Unit Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm at 813-287-7930 to report the abuse. To report abuse after hours, the CyberTipline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 1-800-843-5678, and any emergency should be reported directly to local law enforcement. The investigation was jointly conducted by the Attorney General’s CyberCrime Unit and the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, both members of the Central Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

Blage will be booked into the Pasco County Jail and currently faces charges of lewd and lascivious battery, promoting the sexual performance of a minor, and possession of child pornography. Additional charges may follow at a later date.


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4:00 AM 
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Thursday, November 12, 2009 

Current mood:  thankful
Category: News and Politics
November 10, 2009
Phone: (850) 245-0150

Sumter County Man Arrested for Possession of Child Pornography

TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that a 21-year old Sumter County man is in custody on charges of child pornography possession. Anthony Enoch was arrested this morning by law enforcement officers with the Attorney General’s Tampa CyberCrime Task Force after a joint investigation by the CyberCrime Unit and the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.

Images of child pornography previously identified by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) were discovered on Enoch’s computer after a routine CyberCrime investigation. A search warrant was executed at Enoch's Lake Panasoffkee residence and investigators seized an X-box, two computers, an external hard-drive and numerous CDs, all of which will undergo forensic analysis to locate any additional images. The Citrus County Sheriff’s Office assisted with the execution of the search warrant and the arrest.

Enoch was booked into the Sumter County Jail and will be charged with six counts of possession of child pornography, a third-degree felony. The agencies participating in the investigation and arrest are members of the Attorney General's Tampa CyberCrime Task Force and the Central Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
12:07 AM 
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Thursday, November 12, 2009 

Current mood:  accomplished
Category: News and Politics
November 6, 2009
Phone: (850) 245-0150

Pinellas County Man on Charges of Child Pornography Possession

TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that a Pinellas County man was arrested on charges of child pornography possession. Christopher O'Conner was arrested today by law enforcement with the Attorney General's CyberCrime Unit and the St. Petersburg Police Department with assistance from the Kenneth City Police Department and the U.S. Immigration and Customs and Enforcement.

Investigators with the Attorney General's Tampa CyberCrime Task Force discovered images of child pornography online during a routine investigation and traced the images back to O'Conner's computer. A search warrant was executed at O'Conner's residence and computer equipment was seized, which will undergo additional forensic analysis to locate any additional images. Some of images found online during the investigation were of children appearing to be no more than three years old.

O'Conner was arrested and will be booked into the Pinellas County Jail. He will be charged with 20 counts of possession of child pornography, a second-degree felony enhanced under the CyberCrimes Against Children Act; additional charges may be added later. The agencies involved with today's arrest are members of the Attorney General's Tampa CyberCrime Task Force and the Central Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
12:01 AM 
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Sunday, October 25, 2009 

Current mood:  thankful
Category: News and Politics
October 22, 2009
Phone: (850) 245-0150

Pinellas County Man Arrested for Possession, Promotion of Child Pornography

TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that his CyberCrime Unit has arrested a 28-year old Pinellas County man on charges of child pornography possession and promotion. Karl Strasser was taken into custody this morning by law enforcement with the CyberCrime Unit and the Clearwater Police Department.

CyberCrime investigators discovered images of child pornography online during a routine investigation and traced the images back to Strasser's computer. A search warrant was executed at Strasser's Clearwater residence and investigators located hundreds of images of child pornography, including images of children appearing to be as young as infants, and some involving children in bondage. Law enforcement officers seized three computers and numerous CDs, which will undergo forensic analysis to locate any additional images.

Strasser will be booked into the Pinellas County Jail and will be charged with one count of promotion of child pornography, a second-degree felony, and 20 counts of possession of child pornography, a third-degree felony which will be enhanced to a second-degree felony under the CyberCrimes Against Children Act of 2007. The investigation and arrest was carried out by members of the Attorney General's Tampa CyberCrime Task Force. Task Force members are also members of the Central Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

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3:45 AM 
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Tuesday, October 20, 2009 

Current mood:  working
Where do I report fake MySpace pages if someone is pretending to be another student or even me?

First, go directly to http://www.myspace.com. Next, scroll down and “Contact MySpace” will be located as a link at the bottom of the page. Verify your reason for e-mailing customer service and make sure to include the web address of the fake MySpace page in your message. MySpace will then be able to work on getting the site removed.


You can find out more information on cyber safety at our Safe Florida website!!
3:45 AM 
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Wednesday, October 14, 2009 

Current mood:  accomplished
Category: News and Politics
October 13, 2009
Phone: (850) 245-0150

Attorney General Reaches 1,000 Schools with CyberSafety Message

TALLAHASSEE, FL — Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced his CyberSafety Education program has reached over 1,000 Florida schools, a significant benchmark for the program that was launched in 2007. Freedom High School in Orange County was the 1,000th school in Florida to receive the CyberSafety presentation, and the school's principal emphasized the importance of having teachers and students learn about safe internet use.

“Educating children about CyberSafety is a vital component in our fight against online child predators,” said Attorney General McCollum. “If children know how to protect themselves and report the predators, they can potentially save lives.”

The CyberSafety Education program, Attorney General McCollum’s top priority since taking office in 2007, combines real-life stories and examples to help middle and high school students identify ways they could be victimized by online predators and encourages safe internet use. To date, the 50-minute interactive program has been presented to over 482,000 middle and high school students statewide.

“Attorney General McCollum’s CyberSafety presentation was highly beneficial to both our students and our teachers,” said Freedom High School Principal Harold Border. “While the internet is a valuable resource, it is imperative that children are aware of the dangers of releasing too much personal information online and learn how to protect themselves from child predators.”

The Attorney General’s CyberSafety Education program has been endorsed by the Florida Department of Education, the Florida School Board Association, the Florida Association of School Administrators, the Florida Association of District School Superintendents, the Florida School Resource Officers Association, the Florida Police Chiefs Association, the Florida Sheriffs Association and the Florida Commission on the Status of Women. The presentations have also been hailed as among the best in the nation by John Walsh, co-founder of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and host of America’s Most Wanted.

Parents are encouraged to contact their children’s schools and encourage their principals to contact the Attorney General’s Office to schedule a presentation. Designated school personnel may schedule presentations by logging onto http://www.safeflorida.net/safeschools and following the prompts. More information about the Attorney General’s CyberSafety message is available online at: http://www.safeflorida.net.

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4:58 AM 
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Friday, September 18, 2009 

Current mood:  thankful
Category: News and Politics
September 18, 2009
Phone: (850) 245-0150
Pinellas County Man Gets 15 Years for Promotion, Possession of Child Pornography

TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that a Pinellas County man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for child pornography promotion and possession. Mark Brian Dobson was arrested in March by law enforcement with the Attorney General’s CyberCrime Unit and the St. Petersburg Police. He was prosecuted by the Attorney General’s CyberCrime attorneys.

Investigators with the Attorney General’s Tampa CyberCrime Task Force discovered images of child pornography online during a routine investigation and traced the images back to Dobson’s computer. A search warrant was executed at Dobson’s St. Petersburg residence and computer equipment was seized. Dobson, 26, admitted to possessing the images found online during the investigation, including a series of instructions on how to molest young children.

In addition to his prison sentence, Dobson will serve 10 years of sex offender probation upon his release and must register with the state as a sexual offender. The agencies involved with the investigation are members of the Attorney General’s Tampa CyberCrime Task Force and the Central Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
9:48 PM 
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Friday, September 18, 2009 

Current mood:  thankful
September 16, 2009
Phone: (850) 245-0150

Tampa Man Arrested After Providing Child Pornography To Undercover Detective

TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that a Tampa man is in custody after he sent numerous images of child pornography to an undercover detective and then met to provide thousands of additional images. Nicholas Beeman was arrested by members of the Attorney General’s Tampa CyberCrime Task Force, working jointly with the Boynton Beach Police Department and the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office.

Beeman, 24, approached an undercover Boynton Beach Police detective online and began transmitting numerous images of child pornography to him, believing the detective was another man interested in viewing child pornography. Beeman asked the undercover detective to meet him in Tampa and said he would provide even more images of child pornography if the man would agree to meet in person.

The Boynton Beach Police Department officer contacted the Attorney General’s Tampa CyberCrime Task Force for assistance, and a meeting was arranged with an undercover CyberCrime investigator from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. Beeman met the undercover detective at a motel in Tampa and took him to Beeman's Tampa home, where Beeman gave the detective two external storage devices with numerous images of child pornography, including images of boys as young as five years old.

Beeman was arrested without incident and admitted to possessing thousands of images of child pornography. Law enforcement officers seized a computer and another external storage device, which will undergo additional forensic analysis. Other agencies assisting in this operation were the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Plant City Police Department. The case will be prosecuted by the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office. The CyberCrime Unit is also a member of the Central Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

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1:18 AM 
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Thursday, August 27, 2009 

Current mood:  thankful
Category: News and Politics
August 25, 2009
Phone: (850) 245-0150

St. Pete Man Arrested for Creating, Maintaining Child Pornography Website

TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General Bill McCollum and St. Petersburg Chief of Police Chuck Harmon today announced that a St. Petersburg man is in custody on charges of child pornography possession and promotion. CyberCrime investigators determined Gary Lee Peel had created and was maintaining a website offering images and videos of child pornography. He was arrested this morning by law enforcement officers with the Attorney General’s CyberCrime Unit with assistance from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the St. Petersburg Police Department.

A tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children indicated that an individual had uploaded what appeared to be a video of child pornography onto a video sharing website. CyberCrime investigators traced the video back to Peel’s computer and discovered he was also operating a website for viewing and downloading child pornography. A search warrant was executed at his St. Petersburg home, where hundreds of images of child pornography were discovered. Law enforcement officers seized two computers and other equipment, which will undergo additional forensic analysis.

According to CyberCrime investigators, Peel, 20, admitted he not only had the images of child pornography in his possession, but also that he was actively searching for additional images and further distributing the images he found via his website. Many of the images discovered were of children as young as infants. The website was immediately shut down by law enforcement and is the first child pornography website taken offline by the Attorney General’s Tampa CyberCrime Task Force.

Peel is a computer engineering student at St. Pete College. He was booked into the Pinellas County Jail and will be charged with two counts of promoting child pornography, a second-degree felony, and 20 counts of possession of child pornography, which will be enhanced to a second-degree felony due to the nature and number of images in his possession.

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12:23 AM 
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