James Anthony Cohen (Brevard County Sheriff’s Office)
A 35-year-old man employed at a daycare and public elementary school in Florida has been arrested for allegedly possessing videos and photos of “extremely disturbing” child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
James Anthony Cohen was taken into custody on Tuesday and charged with 10 counts of possessing material depicting the sexual performance of a child, court documents reviewed by Law&Crime show.
Following his arrest, Cohen was immediately suspended from his role as an instructional assistant for special needs students at Tropical Elementary School and removed from his position at KinderCare daycare. The sheriff’s office said the daycare and the Brevard County School District have been “extremely, extremely cooperative” with the investigation.
“This is a sick puppy. In my 42 years of law enforcement, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything as disturbing as the videos that we have recovered as part of this case,” Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said in a Facebook live video. “When I say disturbing, I mean extremely disturbing. Sickening, disgusting, any other word that you can apply to the word evil and concerning would tie into this.”
According to a press release from the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, the investigation into Cohen began when the Sheriff’s Office received a “cyber tip” on Jan. 24 from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), reporting the uploading of child sexual abuse material by an individual in the area.
Through information provided by the internet service provider, investigators said they identified a residence in Melbourne under the control of Cohen and his father as the source of the disturbing uploads.
Cohen was employed as an instructional assistant at Brevard Public Schools, assigned to Tropical Elementary and maintained a second job at KinderCare, both of which are in Merritt Island, about 55 miles east of Orlando.
Anyone with information relevant to the case has been urged to contact the sheriff’s office at 321-633-8400.
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