TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - A Tallahassee man is behind bars after investigators discovered he was distributing child pornography on Facebook.
Liam McCaffrey, 44, has been arrested on multiple charges related to possession and transmission of child pornography.
According to arrest documents, the Tallahassee Police Department received a cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on October 2018 after a Facebook administrator discovered that a sexually explicit photo of two children was sent from a Facebook profile.
Investigators were able to link the shared photo to McCaffrey's IP address and found the Facebook account in question. While investigating, they discovered several messages showing children engaged in sexual conduct as well as multiple images of an adult's genitals, which appeared to be generated by McCaffrey.
Documents note that some of the images and videos appeared to be sent or received in a Facebook group while others were sent or received in one-one-one message threads.
Later on, investigators discovered a second Facebook account connected to McCaffrey that also appeared to be exchanging and receiving child pornography. Documents say both Facebook profiles were listed under fake names.
On Feb. 4, investigators obtained a warrant to search McCaffrey's home. When no one answered the door, officers forced their way into the home and detained McCaffrey.
Inside his home, investigators say they found several items seen in the background of a profile picture on one of McCaffrey's Facebook accounts.
During an interview with investigators, Liam admitted to being the person seen in the profile picture on Facebook and said he created that account under a fake name because he was "blocked from Facebook due to his political views." He also admitted that he intentionally joined a Facebook group that shared images of children engaged in sexual conduct.
However, documents say Liam denied that he downloaded the images or sent images to other users and claimed the second account didn't belong to him.
"Based on the content received from Facebook, it has been determined that is untrue," the court document said. "Liam stated he was the only person who has signed onto the account listed in the [cybertip]."
Based on the evidence, investigators found probable cause to charge McCaffrey with 10 counts of possession of child pornography, seven counts of transmission of child pornography and one count of promoting the possession of child pornography.
McCaffrey was arrested and jailed on a $150,000 bond. As of Monday, he remains in jail.
