News in 90: Sebastian Inlet Bridge, Flights and I-95 Turnpike Plan
TCPalm’s Rob Landers brings you some of the most important local news of the week in News in 90 Seconds.
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY – An ongoing operation targeting individuals law enforcement say are child molesters and committing Internet crimes against children has resulted in the arrest of several individuals and search and arrest warrants for others.
Since April, seven arrests of men and teenagers between the ages of 75 and 16 have been made as part of the ongoing investigation into Indian River County’s so-called Operation Cyberstorm.
The arrests were announced in a press conference on Thursday and all were charged with possession and distribution of photographs and videos depicting the sexual abuse or exploitation of children, or sexually explicit photographs and videos of children, or attempts to solicit children.
“We tell you this to remind you that these monsters are in our community, that they are out there right now, that they are looking at child pornography and when are they going to take the next step of actually touching a child or doing something horrible?” said Sheriff Eric Flowers
Much of what investigators learned about the activities of those arrested, Flowers said, was based on tips and information they received from the multi-agency South Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the nonprofit National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
Flowers said the agency’s arrests of young people, including 16- and 19-year-olds and a 15-year-old who had not yet been arrested but had a search warrant for him Thursday morning, were largely due to activity on phone apps.
“…It’s troubling us here…” he said. “We have these monsters out there. We’re going to get them and… lock them up. But we have young people in our community who are downloading this stuff and dealing it and selling it.”
A 16-year-old Sebastian River High School student was arrested on August 6 and charged with 11 counts of possession and distribution of child pornography after hundreds of photos and videos were found in his possession.
“There’s no doubt this guy was dealing (child pornography),” Flowers said.
Deshon Gowins, 19, was charged with 14 counts of possession of child pornography and 13 counts of distribution of child pornography when he was arrested on June 19.
“He admitted to actually selling this child pornography through CashApp,” Flowers said. “He was making $5 to $10 per image selling this child pornography” of 2- to 4-year-old children.
Flowers said investigators found the following phone apps on the arrested people’s devices: Kik, Telegram, Thundr, Discord, Grindr, Mega, Snapchat and Instagram, among others.
He described them as the “biggest offenders” that had caught the eye of investigators because they had been used to transfer or download the material.
“Our team sees the same apps over and over again,” he said. “Each of them is used quite innocently … (but) if you have a 15- or 16-year-old child and they have these apps, you should be actively monitoring what they’re doing.”
In addition, the agency announced the arrest of the following people:
• Arnold Flannery Jr., 75, was arrested April 16 on 50 counts of possession of child pornography.
• Tyler Lester, 19, was arrested on May 10 and charged with 31 counts of possession of child pornography
• Dennis Houchin, 64, was arrested June 24 and charged with 11 counts of possession of child pornography and 11 counts of production of obscene material using a minor.
• Jonathan Vasquez, 19, was arrested July 22 and charged with two counts of using a computer to entice a child.
• Demetrius Bostic, 25, was arrested July 25 and charged with using a computer to solicit a child and selling marijuana near a place of worship.
An arrest warrant was issued for Claudio Bermudez, who fled to Chile, but Flowers said he was living in Sebastian when he downloaded images of children between the ages of four and 10, leading to 33 counts of possession of child pornography.
More: In the Bahamas, the civilian search for missing pilot Christopher Moore (59) from Kentucky continues
More: Bloodhounds Hoot and Rylee help Port St. Lucie police search for missing, endangered people
Corey Arwood is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers. Follow @coreyarwood at X, email [email protected] or call 772-978-2246.
