Florida Man, 23, Arrested and Charged with 1,182 Counts of Child Pornography
>
America’s Largest Child Pornography Cache Uncovered: A 23-year-old Florida man is arrested and charged with a staggering 1,182 counts after police allegedly found 15 devices containing images of minors
- Johnathan Jhovanni Hernandez, 23, of Avon Park, Florida, faces 1,182 counts of child pornography after police searched just one of his 15 devices.
- Investigators began looking into Hernandez in August, with a search through his Discord account resulting in his first arrest on December 29.
- He only faced four charges and was out on bail, but a search through the confiscated devices resulted in the charge count skyrocketing.
- Detectives said it was the biggest trove of child porn they had ever seen.
<!–
<!–
<!–<!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
A Florida man has been arrested and charged with 1,182 counts of child pornography after police searched just one of 15 devices they seized from him.
Johnathan Jhovanni Hernandez, 23, of Avon Park, was first arrested Dec. 29 on four counts of child pornography after a months-long investigation resulting from complaints from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
The Highlands County Sheriff’s Office said: “At that time … the investigation was just beginning and there would likely be more charges.” What we should have said is that there would probably be a LOT more charges, like more than anyone in our county… ever.’
‘It is not known how many charges he could face if detectives went through all the devices. Detectives say Hernandez’s collection of child pornography is the largest they’ve ever seen.
Johnathan Jhovanni Hernandez, 23, of Avon Park, Florida, was arrested on January 10 and faces 1,182 counts of child pornography.
Hernandez was originally arrested on December 29 facing only four charges and released on bail. A comb through just one of the 15 devices on him caused the charges to go off.
The investigation against Hernandez began in August, when tips led investigators to obtain search warrants for the man’s Discord account, which was found to contain child pornography.
Hernandez was originally charged with two counts of possession of child pornography, two counts of transmitting child pornography and one count of using a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony.
Although he was initially released on bail, Police conducted a search of Hernández’s home and confiscated 15 electronic devices.
Just one of those devices brought the charges to nearly 1,200, and police arrested Hernandez, again, on Tuesday.
Along with the child pornography charges, Hernandez was also charged with four counts of possession of bestiality images under a new law that went into effect last October.
Hernandez is being held on $2.4 million bail and faces life in prison if convicted on all charges.
The Highlands County Sheriff’s Office said the investigation is still ongoing as detectives review the other 14 devices taken from Hernandez’s home.