Ponte Vedra Beach man faces 20-counts of child porn possession

During an ongoing investigation into the possession and distribution of child pornography in St Johns County, investigators identified a computer, located in Ponte Vedra Beach, that was being used to host images of children engaged in sexual acts.

The illegal pornographic images were being made available for download to other computers across the Internet. Detectives first became aware of the file sharing activity in May and intelligence gathering began.

“On Tuesday, May 16, 2017, between 10:21 a.m. and 10:38 a.m., I successfully completed the download of 76 files from that device and IP address,” the investigating deputy wrote in their report. “On Wednesday, June 12, 2017, between 11:29 a.m. and 12:45 p.m., I successfully completed the download of 353 files that the device and IP address.”

Detectives went about the process of identifying the Internet provider as well as the location of the connection to their network. On last Tuesday, a search warrant was obtained for the apartment on 611 Ponte Vedra Lakes Boulevard; on Thursday, November 9, 2017, the search warrant was executed at that address.

At least two individuals reside within the apartment, according to official records. When officers arrived, 38-year-old Christopher Richard and a female occupant were identified. The individuals were questioned about the presence of computers and Internet connections within the apartment.

Deputies determined that three computers were inside;

• Toshiba laptop belonging to the female
• Dell personal computer
• Compaq computer belonging to Christopher Richard

Since any computer connected to the Internet through the same connection would share the same IP address, it was necessary to use the search authorized in the warrant to physically check each device for residual images.

Triage of the Compaq computer, identified as belonging to Christopher Richard, revealed several images of child pornography; including 20 images received during the May and June downloads.

Richard was arrested and transferred to the St Johns County jail without incident. He was charged with 20-counts of possession of child pornography (827.071.5 F.S.) each a third-degree felony.

He was released from custody on Saturday afternoon after posting a $100,000.00 appearance bond.