Google leads to child porn arrest.
David Ashely, 38, of Port St. Lucie was arrested today on 10 counts of possession of child pornography.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a tip from Google that pornographic images of children had been uploaded to a Google+ photo account. The National Center confirmed that information. Then they forwarded it to the South Florida Crimes Against Children Task Force. They were able to further refine the metadata of the photo. Then they were subsequently able to identify they were uploaded from a user in St. Lucie County.
“The technology that exists today to track information over the Internet greatly helps in our investigation of these types of heinous crimes against helpless children,” said Sheriff Ken J. Mascara.
According to the Sheriff, the user uploading these photos was identified as a resident in the 3600 block of S.E. Mariposa Avenue in Port St. Lucie.
“Our detectives determined that David Ashley was the individual responsible for uploading these images and as a result conducted a search warrant at the home where numerous photographic and digital evidence was seized,” Mascara said.
Ashley was arrested on Friday, May 25 in the 2500 block of North U.S. 1 on an outstanding warrant.
10 pornographic images depicting children
10 pornographic images depicting children under the age of eight were initially discovered.
“Individuals like this are a fungus in our community,” Mascara said. “They use these photos to satisfy their twisted desires, often times starting out with digital images, then escalating to more deviant behavior. With this arrest, Ashley will not only face jail time, but a lifetime of registration and monitoring restrictions to ensure he isn’t a harm to anyone else.”
Ashley was booked into the St. Lucie County Jail on a $100,000 bond.
