A Waldo teenager has been arrested on charges of possessing child pornography following an investigation by the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
Gainesville Police Cpl. Mitch Nixon, the task force's coordinator, said investigators tracked images of child pornography being traded over the Internet to the Internet Protocol (IP) address of Travis Brinson Harper, 18, a Waldo resident and recent Eastside High graduate.
Spencer Mann, spokesman for the State Attorney's Office, said that, after tracking images to Harper, investigators obtained a search warrant for his computer.
Harper was arrested Saturday and released that same day on $10,000 bond. Possession of child pornography is a third-degree felony. If convicted of those charges, Harper could face up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
A man who answered the phone at Harper's residence declined comment.
Gainesville police Detective Fred Cummings said the images Harper allegedly possessed on his computer were graphic and sexually explicit.
"This stuff is traded quite a lot actually, and that's what's being combated here," Cummings said. "For years, the Internet was virtually unpoliced. ... Law enforcement is in a position now to actually monitor this stuff."
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