Florida firefighter charged with 22 counts of child pornography possession. He resigned
A Lake Wales man told investigators he’s accidentally seen child pornography on the Internet while searching for adult pornography and he’s been back to those sites while looking for adult pornography.
But Polk County Sheriff’s Office investigators say 49-year-old Richard Parr had more than a nodding online acquaintance relationship with child pornography They claim they found 22 child porn pictures and videos on Parr’s laptop showing sexual acts involving children from age 5 to 15.
That’s why Parr’s been charged with 22 counts, one count for each instance, of child pornography possession. After his arrest Monday, the firefighter resigned from Polk County Fire Rescue. Then, he posted $110,000 bond.
Parr’s arrest affidavit says Microsoft/BingImage sent the first of 22 CyberTips to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on Jan. 22. The tip got to Polk County Sheriff’s Office on March 6. A detective viewing the image linked to that tip and the other 21 said each showed a child from around 5 to 15 engaged in a sexual act with another child or lewdly showing their genitals.
The Internet address traced to Comcast Cable. One subpoena served to Comcast later, the arrest form says, and detectives found the account doing the posting had done so from Parr’s home. Monday, PCSO hit Parr’s home with a search warrant.
Parr lives alone and told detectives he had two routers, one of which might not be password protected. Investigators say they found both were password protected.
“Richard stated that he has seen child pornography in the past, but he did not intentionally look for it,” the affidavit read. “Richard stated when he has seen child pornography in the past, he has seen it while searching for adult pornography. Richard also stated that after accidentally seeing the child pornography, he has re-visited the site that contained the child pornography in an attempt to find more adult pornography.”
This story was originally published April 12, 2019 at 7:02 AM.
