The Bay County, Florida Sheriff’s Office announced today the arrests of six Bay County residents on charges related to the possession and distribution of child pornography.
Working with information provided by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, investigators identified locations where child pornography imagery had been distributed within Bay County.
The majority of the images were of the exploitation of children younger than 13 years of age, with some being prepubescent.
Through investigation techniques, probable suspects were developed at those locations.
On December 6 through December 8, members of the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, Panama City Police Department, Panama City Beach Police Department, Lynn Haven Police Department, and Homeland Security Investigations, went to the identified locations and conducted interviews and collected evidence. Six were arrested as a result of these investigations.
Ethan Kirkland, age19, of Southport, was charged with Promoting the Sexual Performance of a Child, and Possession of The Sexual Performance of a Child.
James Leary, age 64, of Panama City, was charged with 27 counts of Possession of The Sexual Performance of a Child.
Kenneth Powell, age 68, of Panama City Beach, was charged with five counts of Promoting the Sexual Performance of a Child.
John Truce, age 36, of Panama City Beach, was charged with 10 counts of Possession of The Sexual Performance of a Child.
Two others arrested were minors. Both were charged with Possession of The Sexual Performance of a Child.
The investigation continues and additional charges are expected.
As these investigations were taking place, Sheriff Ford was speaking to local parents at a local event held to inform parents about the dangers associated with their children on the internet.
These arrests should be a reminder to parents to keep constant guard over who their children are communicating with on the internet, as some of these arrests were directly related to social media sites used by children every day.
