Florida Criminal Attorney Blog

Michael David McCarthy of Hollywood, Florida was arrested for child pornography possession on March 16. The charges came after police searching for explosives in his Hollywood home allegedly found a stash of child pornography instead. McCarthy was subsequently charged with 83 counts of possession of child pornography and has been booked at Miami-Dade County Jail. It is not clear whether McCarthy has been granted bail bond or has retained a private criminal defense attorney.

The police report indicates that a nurse from Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood contacted them, saying that McCarthy, 54, had told her that he "had enough stuff to take out three city blocks and he keeps a machine gun by the front door." It is not clear what he was being treated for in the hospital. Police launched an investigation in response to the claim and went to McCarthy's residence, located on the 2500 block of Lincoln Street in Hollywood, to talk to McCarthy.

McCarthy reportedly cooperated with the officers, stepping outside when they asked him to. Officers say that McCarthy gave them his permission to enter the residence and conduct a search by moving a chair out of the way of the door for them when they asked if they could conduct a search. Police searched the premises and did not discover any explosives or other weapons, and McCarthy was not charged with weapon or explosive possession.

However, police officers allegedly discovered something else. "Officers saw in plain view child pornography on the monitor of his computer," said one detective. The images were reportedly being used as a screen saver slideshow on a monitor and featured underage girls exposing their genitals or engaging in sexual acts with older men.

According to a detective involved in the investigation, police "confiscated the monitor and a subsequent investigation revealed that there were at least 83 [child pornography] photographs." Police also reportedly confiscated two surveillance photographs that were pointed towards the computer monitor with the pornographic screensaver, a Mako Viper desktop computer, two Dell desktop computers, a CompUSA hard drive, and other media storage devices such as DVDs and VHS tapes after obtaining a search warrant.

The girls in the photographs are suspected to be anywhere from 6 to 14 years old and are either engaging in sex acts with older men, exposing themselves, or posing sexually. Police report that McCarthy believes that the child pornography depicts "children being tortured" but that he thinks of it as art. His viewpoint "makes absolutely no sense," commented one deputy.

Police are not sure at this time whether McCarthy took any of the pictures himself or has harmed any children. They are asking parents who live in McCarthy's neighborhood to show their children pictures of McCarthy and ask them if he has ever approached them, reporting any potential instances of child abuse.

McCarthy told arresting officers that he has bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. He was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital after his arrest for treatment for undisclosed medical problems. McCarthy is not a registered sex offender in Florida and his last arrest was in 1976, over 30 years ago, for marijuana possession.

Carlos Perez, of Coral Springs, Florida was arrested on March 22 for allegedly conducting a two-year affair with a 16-year-old girl, sources indicate. The 61-year-old was arrested on charges of possessing child pornography. Officials are reportedly considering adding additional charges of sexual battery or child abuse. Perez is currently in custody at the Broward County Jail, where he is being held on $10,000 bond. It is not clear whether he has retained a private criminal defense attorney.

If found guilty as charged, Perez will have to register as a sex offender in the State of Florida. It is not clear whether he has ever faced similar charges.

According to sources, Perez was first cited for having an inappropriate relationship with the girl two years ago. He reportedly met her through her parents, with whom he worked at Swap Shop, a flea market/drive-in movie theatre located at 3291 West Sunrise Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale. The girl, whose name has not been released because of her status as a minor, began visiting her parents at work when she was 12 years old.

Reports indicate that two years later, when the teen was 14 years old, a neighbor spotted her and Perez kissing inside of a parked car outside of the girls' home. The neighbor notified police and the girls' parents. In October 2010, the father of the teen got an injunction against Perez on behalf of his daughter, requiring that he stay at least 500 feet away from her.

Investigations allege that Perez continually violated this injunction. Perez was arrested once in April on charges of aggravated stalking after he was found in a parking lot near the teenager's high school. It is not clear how police were able to locate him there. At that time, Perez' iPhone was confiscated and placed in a holding locker at the Broward County Jail. "During the course of that arrest we take his property [including] his cellphone and we put it into our property unit," explained a police officer. "The phone is the key here." For unknown reasons, Perez never went back to reclaim the phone when he was released from prison.

During interviews leading up to the current charges, the girl reportedly admitted to authorities that Perez would pick her up from school up to three times a week, take her to parking lots in Cooper City, and have sex with her in his car. The relationship was apparently consensual, and the girl reported that it had started some time ago. The girl also admitted to sending illicit photos of herself, including some in which she exposed her genitals, to Perez' iPhone.

Since police already had possession of Perez' phone, they were able to search it immediately after acquiring a search warrant. They found the incriminating photos and arrested Perez at his place of work, still Swap Shop, on Thursday. It is not known whether the business was aware of the restraining order against Perez or whether they will continue to employ Perez if he is released pending the current charges. They have not released a comment pertaining to the arrest.

Orville H. Bullitt was arrested in Osceola County, Florida last week on 144 counts of child pornography. Bullitt was arrested at his mother's home, where he was living. He is currently being held at the Osceola County jail on a $1.44 million bail bond. He will reportedly be transported to Broward County Jail soon. No word on whether Bullitt has retained a private criminal defense attorney.

Bullitt, who has lived in Davie, Pembroke Pines, Miami Shores, and North Miami,
was arrested as a result of an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Cyber High Tech Crime Squad. Investigators first suspected Bullitt when they traced file sharing of child pornography back to his computer's IP address.

After obtaining a search warrant, investigators searched Bullitt's Pembroke Pines home, located on the 7000 block of Northwest 12th Street, and found hundreds of images of children. So far 144 of those images have been determined to be pornographic.

"The images found showed child victims in various sexual depictions," said Addy Villanueva, an FDLE representative. "The crimes committed by Bullit are unspeakable and unforgivable."

Continue reading "Orville Bullitt Arrested in Osceola County, FL for Child Pornography" »

Stephen Saftler was arrested in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for possession of child pornography charges. Based on the nature of the charges and the fact that he is accused of possessing more than 800 images of child pornography, Stephen Seftler's bail bond was set at $100,000.

According to an unnamed criminal defense lawyer who represented Stephen Saftler during his bond hearing, Saftler has been a resident of Broward County for more than 20 years and has never been arrested before.

Based on my experience litigating possession of child pornography cases, I can tell you most of these matters arise after a person has become a member of a file sharing network.

Sometimes, defendants do not realize they are sharing their personal collection of images and videos, simply because they lack computer savvy. This is most common with older offenders.

However, if there was intentional file sharing, this is sometimes evidence by online chats between the offender and the undercover detective.

Regardless, cases like these tend to be pretty black and white from an evidentiary perspective. Either the images and videos are child pornography or they are not.

From there, the most effective defenses come from a person's Constitutional Right to remain silent and their freedom of privacy.

Continue reading "Stephen Saftler Arrested in Fort Lauderdale, Florida" »

Michael Anthony Torres was arrested in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for Possession of Child Pornography. He is presently being held on $75,000 bail bond.

According to news reports, Michael Anthony Torres is accused of sharing child pornography on an online file sharing network. Based on my experience as a criminal defense lawyer, I can tell you that prosecutors will likely begin plea negotiations in the area of 10 years.

From there, it is up to Michael Torres' criminal defense attorney to work on the case and find grounds that would justify either a reduced plea agreement, a change of charge, dropping of charges, or trial.

Regardless, this type of possession of child pornography case is extremely common, and frankly, I find it shocking that people still use these online networks, knowing that they could get into a lot of trouble.

Continue reading "Michael Anthony Torres Arrested in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for Child Pornography" »

Curtis Leo Barber was arrested in West Palm Beach, Florida for possession of child pornography. According to news reports, Curtis Barber worked as a traffic control employee for Palm Beach County. It is unknown if he is represented by a criminal defense lawyer at the present time. As a result of his arrest, he is facing two counts of transmission of child pornography and three counts of computer pornography and child exploitation.

At the present time, Curtis Barber is being held on a $6,000.00 bail bond.

According to a press release by the State Attorney's Office, Barber used a social networking site to transmit sexually explicit messages and photographs to an undercover officer allegedly posing as a 15 year old boy.

Strangely, the two also communicated using web camera sessions over the internet. This may sound like a statement of the obvious, but how did the undercover officer keep up the ruse of being a 15 year old boy if he is an adult?

The press release also mentioned that Curtis Barber engaged in these acts at his county office and using a government issued internet account.

Continue reading "Curtis Barber Arrested for Child Pornography in Palm Beach, Florida" »

Rickey Orelle Masters was arrested in Hollywood, Florida for possession of child pornography. He is presently being held on a $55,100 bond. According to news reports, Rickey Masters was arrested after police discovered he had been allegedly sharing child pornography over the internet using a file sharing program.

As a criminal defense lawyer who handles possession of child pornography cases, I can tell you that this scenario is extremely common. In fact, if it were not for file sharing networks, many offenders would go undetected by law enforcement.

However, insofar as Rickey Masters is concerned, his case boils down to three legal issues. First, Masters needs to get a bond posted so he can get out of jail pending resolution of his case.

Possession of child pornography is a very serious offense, however, it is not one that legally requires pretrial detention. While bond in these cases are usually set very high, it is possible to motion the court for a bond reduction.

Continue reading "Rickey Masters Arrested for Child Pornography in Hollywood, Florida" »

Harve White was arrested in Hollywood, Florida for possession of child pornography. According to police, Harve White allegedly possessed approximately 900 images of child pornography.

Pursuant to Florida Statutes, White can be charged with one count for each and every image of child pornography he possessed. As a result, the laws that control criminal sentencing in Florida will require a minimum prison sentence that undoubtedly exceeds White's natural life.

As a practicing criminal defense lawyer in Fort Lauderdale, I can tell you prosecutors will ask for a minimum of 10 years in prison as a plea bargain. Given White's age and the very large quantity of child pornography he allegedly possessed, I would not be surprised if prosecutors offered him a plea bargain of 15 years in prison or more.

According to news reports, the child pornography was recovered after police served a search warrant on Harve White's house early yesterday morning. Police claim that 300 images of child pornography were recovered from a computer and 600 additional images were recovered from a hard drive.

White supposedly admitted to viewing the child pornography on the computer using a file-sharing program.

As a Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorney, this case scenario is one that is extremely common and is one I have litigated many times in the past. Based on my experience defending people against such charges, I can tell you that Harve White may have some very formidable defenses.

Continue reading "Harve White Arrested for Possession of Child Pornography in Hollywood, Florida" »

Mitchell Leefar, 56, was arrested for Possession of Child Pornography in Fort Lauderdale, Florida last week. According to court documents, Leefar is being detained on a $200,000.00 bond. When the magistrate judge set bond, he noted that Leefar had a prior arrest for Possession of Child Pornography in 1994.

A search of the Broward County Clerk of Court's website shows that Leefar has no prior felony offenses in Broward. Where his prior alleged arrest occurred is not known at the present time. However, it is important to emphasize that even though that arrest was for the same thing, an arrest does not mean anything... the real question concerns what happened with that case? Was he convicted? Did he go to prison? Was he found not guilty by a jury of his peers?

Regardless, Leefar is facing a VERY serious case. Given the fact that he is facing 20 counts of Possession of Child Pornography, he is facing more years in prison than he could possible live in his natural life.

Given my experience with litigating these types of cases here in Broward County, I suspect that prosecutors would begin plea bargain negotiations in the area of 10-15 years.

When determining what plea bargain to offer, prosecutors will evaluate a number of factors. The first is the nature and extent of the charges. This case concerns charges that are both extremely serious and extremely pervasive... 20 counts is a lot.

Continue reading "Mitchell Leefar Arrested for Possession of Child Pornography in Fort Lauderdale, Florida" »

Warren Day, 66, was arrested in Pembroke Pines, Florida for possession of child pornography. According to news reports, investigators from the South Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that indicated a computer user was uploading and sharing child pornography.

Warren Day has been booked into the Broward County Jail with 50 counts of possession of a photograph depicting a sexual act by a child. Since the standard bond on that type of charge is $10,000, Day's bond is presently set at $500,000.

As a criminal defense lawyer, I can tell you that the very first thing that must be done on this case is a motion to reduce bond. As bad as these charges may be, the law says that Day is entitled to a reasonable bond. When a criminal defendant faces a multi-count indictment, bond amounts become so excessive it is as if there was no bond allowed.

In situations like these, the law gives Day's judge the discretion to lower the bond to something that is affordable while still guaranteeing his presence in court. For those hardliners out there reading this and wondering how I can advocate a reduction in bond, I say you first must educate yourself and understand the purpose of bond.

Continue reading "Warren Day Arrested in Pembroke Pines, Florida for Child Pornography" »