TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Tallahassee man has been arrested after he was found to be in possession of child pornography through his Gmail account and cellphone.
Thomas Laverty, 42, was arrested by the Tallahassee Police Department on Wednesday.
In March, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received two tips from the electronic service provider Google, who detected the transmission of child pornography from Laverty's Gmail account.
Google provided NCMEC with Laverty's name and phone number.
Once that information was collected, NCMEC provided the cybertip to the Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce. Based on the geolocation of the IP address, TPD was assigned to the case.
On July 29, TPD officers received a subpoena response from Comcast, listing Laverty's address in Tallahassee.
According to arrest documents, also provided with the cybertip were 21 photographs of suspected child pornography transmitted through Gmail.
The pictures officers viewed depicted children performing sexual acts and constituted as child pornography as defined by Florida statue.
A search warrant of Laverty's house was conducted on Wednesday.
After being read his Miranda Rights, he declined to speak with officers. Two other occupants of the home talked with officers and both acknowledged Laverty's prior accusation of possessing child pornography. They also told officers that Laverty had a black Samsung cellphone, that only he used.
Arrest documents state that after officers imaged and processed the phone on scene, they found six images that constituted child pornography, as well as other child erotica and bestiality videos.
Based on the evidence, he is being charged with 10 counts of aggravated possession of child pornography.
He is currently in the Leon County Detention Facility and being held without bond.
