March 5, 2010
Media Contact: Sandi Copes
Phone: (850) 245-0150
Broward County Man Arrested for Possession of Child Pornography
TALLAHASSEE, FL - Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced a Broward County man is in custody and will be charged with possession of child pornography. Jonathon Bates, 19, was arrested by law enforcement with the Attorney General’s CyberCrime Unit after investigators discovered Bates had multiple images of child pornography in his possession. The Broward County Sheriff’s Office, FBI-Miami and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the United States Marshals assisted with the arrest.
CyberCrime investigators located images of child pornography during a routine investigation and traced the images back to Bates’ computer. A search warrant was executed at his Pembroke Pines home where a desktop computer and a laptop were seized; both items will undergo forensic analysis. The law enforcement officers also seized hand drawings depicting the sexual abuse of children. An initial review of his computers revealed images of child pornography, some of children as young as eight years old.
Bates will be booked in the Broward County Jail and will be charged with two counts of possession of child pornography, a third-degree felony. The participating agencies are all members of the South Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.