Tallahassee man arrested on 10 counts of aggravated child pornography
August 9, 2019
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) — A 42-year-old Tallahassee man was arrested on 10 counts of aggravated possession of child pornography after cybertips from Google were sent to the Tallahassee Police Department.
According to the probable cause statement from TPD, the tips were initially sent to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on March 2, when Google detected child porn being sent from a Gmail account belonging to Thomas Laverty.
The tips included Laverty's IP number, IP address, and his phone number, which was linked to the Gmail account.
On July 29, Comcast, which the IP address was connected to, responded to a subpoena and identified Laverty as the IP address owner, the statement said. Police used data mining to sift through police reports from TPD and Leon County Sheriff's Office to locate Laverty's address.
Two others were detained with Laverty on Tuesday, and they told police they were aware of past accusations of him owning child porn. They told police about a black Samsung cell phone that only he used, according to the statement.
On Wednesday, police conducted a search warrant at Laverty's home and found the cell phone, which had at least six images and videos of child porn on it, the statement said.
An officer called the number from the tip, and the phone rang, identifying Laverty as the owner. Police arrested him after that.
