Police accuse Florida man of looking at child porn as cops searched his home for child porn
Charisa Bossinakis
Featured Image Credit: Hall County Sheriff's Office. Christopher Hansen / Alamy Stock Photo
A Florida man is being accused of looking at child porn as detectives searched his home for child porn.
The Hall County Sheriff’s Office says a Gainesville man was arrested after he 'viewed child porn on his computer' while officers were searching his Bluff Valley Circle home.
Alan Neil Thur, 75, was arrested on seven child pornography charges last week.
“As deputies carried out the search, Thur was viewing five images of child pornography on his computer,” deputies wrote in an incident report obtained by WSB-TV.
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Thur has been charged with two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and five additional counts of the same charge concerning the search of his home.
He was processed at the Hall County Jail with no bond.
The Hall County Sheriff's Office revealed that the case was launched last month following a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
Last month, a Central Florida man was arrested after deputies accused him of possessing 2,600 pounds of child porn.
Welsh reported that 72-year-old Paul Zittel was arrested late in February for 25 counts of possession of child pornography.
Detectives revealed they became aware of Zittel’s alleged activity after files depicting child sex abuse material were uploaded online from his IP address.
They also said that while searching, residents at his Ocala home said the man would not let others into his office or bedroom without personally escorting them.
"During the search, detectives located countless printed photographs of pornography, many of which depicted child sex abuse material. The prints had been arranged into large stacks and boxes throughout Zittel's bedroom and office, and a printer on his desk displayed obvious signs of heavy use," according to the report obtained by the outlet.
Officials claimed there were around 220,000 printed images weighing around 2,600lbs.
The man was then transferred to Marion County Jail, where he remains on a USD $250,000 (AUD $372,150) bond.
According to the NCMEC, more than 26 million images are reviewed for child pornography every year, which comes down to almost 500,000 images a week.
Sergeant James Isaacs of the Dearborn Police Department's Technical Investigations Unit, who has investigated thousands of child porn cases, told Fox 2: "I can assure you there is somebody in every city in every state in this country that right now has that material, is downloading that material and sharing that material.
"Just last year, Facebook alone had over 15 million reports they made to NCMEC regarding child sexually abusive material.”