The arrest of three men in connection with separate and unrelated child sexual abuse material cases was described today by Florida Attorney General James Uthemeyer at a media briefing in Fort Myers.
Those arrested included former LaBelle resident 46-year-old Jason Harrison of Jacksonville, 41-year-old Kevin Sheffield of Naples and 34-year-old Travis Montgomery of Bradenton.
Sheffield is charged with 10 counts of possession of child sexual abuse material, second degree felonies.
Harrison is charged with three counts of possession of child sexual abuse material, third-degree felonies.
Montgomery faces six third-degree felony counts of possession of child sexual abuse material, one second-degree felony count of solicitation of an image from a parent or legal guardian of sexual conduct involving a child, and one first-degree felony count of food tampering.
FDLE officials said Montgomery was reaching out to a mother in Washington state trying to get sex abuse material sent to him and they described some of the materials involved could be construed as bestiality related.
"This is a very sick individual," Eli Lawson, FDLE's Fort Myers Special Agent in charge, said.
Lawson described the cases as beginning as part of a routine online peer-to-peer sharing investigations.
"Agents identified a device that was downloading child sexual abuse material, commonly referred to as child pornography," Lawson said. "The investigation led us to an IP address at Sheffield's residence in Naples, Florida. Less than two weeks later, agents conducted a search warrant, seized multiple electronic devices, conducted follow up forensics analysis and discovered hundreds of files of child sexual abuse material on his devices."
Lawson said Sheffield was arrested Wednesday and taken to the Collier County Jail.
He said the case was similar against former LaBelle resident Harrison.
"That investigation led us to a user with an IP address in Labelle," Lawson said. "The user eventually identified as Mr. Harrison, was downloading child exploitative material. Agents executed a search warrant at his home, seized multiple devices and located several files. After the search warrant, Harrison subsequently moved to Jacksonville, where he was arrested ... he was booked in the county jail there in Jacksonville, he'll be extradited to Hendry County."
The Montgomery case, Lawson said began March 13, when agents were notified by the Bellingham Police Department in Washington state that a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children had identified an online user sharing child sexual abuse material on the Kik messaging app.
"Our investigation led to Mr. Montgomery's IP address where he was receiving those files, the communication between Montgomery and the parent led to shared digital files depicting Montgomery performing sexual acts inside a restaurant where he was employed at the time, sexual acts that intentionally contaminated food," Lawson said. "He is no longer, thankfully, employed that restaurant."
Lawson said agents conducted a search warrant of Montgomery's residence in Bradenton, and on April 30, Montgomery was arrested and transported to the Manatee County Jail.
"As you heard, these cases are disgusting in nature," Lawson said. "There's some details that are revolting."
Further arrests are contemplated, officials said.
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