Miami Beach man gave cops phone to clear himself, leading to new child porn arrest
A Miami Beach man tried to prove his innocence by handing over his phone to police after allegedly fracturing a woman’s leg, but what was supposed to exonerate him landed him in more serious trouble after detectives made a troubling discovery — dozens of files of child sexual abuse, authorities say.
Justin Milton Benore, 32, was arrested Tuesday and is facing 25 counts of child pornography and one count of engaging with images that depict sex conduct with animals.
In early June, Benore was arrested after a woman he’d been in an intimate relationship with told Miami Beach police that he had pushed her to the ground after an argument, which caused a fibular fracture, an arrest report read.
While talking with detectives, police said, he gave them consent to search his phone, adding that he had conversations and screenshots related to the incident that would “prove his innocence.”
On July 1, a few weeks later, the detective began his search through the phone to find the supposed evidence but discovered an image he believed to be child sexual abuse material, police said. He stopped searching and alerted colleagues, and a search warrant was filed to continue looking through Benore’s phone to find any other possible files.
On July 25, a Miami-Dade court approved the warrant, and detectives soon found at least 26 files depicting child sex abuse involving minors ranging from toddlers to preteens, police said.
Benore was asked to come into the Miami Beach Police Department, where he was arrested on the new charges involving the files. He is still facing charges in the domestic abuse case.
As of Wednesday, he remained in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
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