America’s biggest child porn stash uncovered: Florida man, 23, is arrested and hit with a staggering 1,182 charges after cops allegedly found 15 devices with underage images
- Johnathan Jhovanni Hernandez, 23, of Avon Park, Florida, faces 1,182 child pornography charges after police searched just one of his 15 devices
- Investigators began looking into Hernandez in August, with a search through his Discord account resulting in his first arrest on December 29
- He only faced four charges and was out on bail, but a search through the devices confiscated from him resulted in the charge count skyrocketing
- Detectives said it was the largest trove of child porn they had ever seen
A Florida man was arrested and hit with 1,182 child pornography charges after police looked through just one of the 15 devices confiscated from him.
Johnathan Jhovanni Hernandez, 23, of Avon Park, was first arrested on December 29 on four child pornography charges after a months-long investigation resulting from tips from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
The Highlands County Sheriff’s Office said: ‘At that time… the investigation was just getting started and there would likely be more charges. What we should have said was there would likely be A LOT more charges – like more than anyone in our county … ever.’
‘There is no telling how many charges he could face if detectives went through all the devices. Detectives say Hernandez’s collection of child porn is the largest they have ever seen.’
Johnathan Jhovanni Hernandez, 23, of Avon Park, Florida, was arrested on January 10 and faces 1,182 child pornography charges
Hernandez was originally arrested on December 29 facing only four charges and released on bond. A comb through just one of his 15 devices saw the charges skyrocket
The investigation against Hernandez began in August, where tips led investigators to obtain search warrants for the man’s Discord account, which was found to have child porn.
Hernanez was originally charged with two counts of possession of child pornography, two counts of transmitting child pornograpy, and one count of using a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony.
While he was initially released on bail, police executed a search of Hernandez’s home and confiscated 15 electronic devices.
Just one of those devices brought the charges up to nearly 1,200, with police arresting Hernandez, again, on Tuesday.
Along with the child porn charges, Hernandez was also charged with four counts of possession of beastiality images under a new law that went into effect last October.
Hernandez is being held on a $2.4 million bond and is facing life in prison if convicted of all charges.
The Highlands County Sheriff’s Office said the investigation is still ongoing as detectives look through the other 14 devices taken from Hernandez’s home.
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