POLK COUNTY, Fla. – Four Polk County men were arrested on child pornography charges following a covert investigation launched by deputies, according to the sheriff’s office.
Polk County deputies said they received tips from the National Center for Missing and Endangered Children about the suspects downloading and sending images and videos of children being sexually battered.
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The suspects — 23-year-old Ian Gadd, of Lakeland; 18-year-old Melvin Lagos Jr., of Davenport; 29-year-old Christian Pillot-Osorio, of Lakeland; and 23-year-old Billy “Jordan” Rose, of Winter Haven — are all booked in Polk County jail with different bond amounts.
“These suspects—who are the worst of the worst—used common social media apps, like Instagram, Snapchat, and Kik, to transmit and download child pornography,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in a release. “This is clear proof that these horrific images are easier than ever to find and share. Each time an image is downloaded or shared, the victim in that image is re-victimized. We continue to encourage parents to be all up in their child’s business—no matter how old their child is. We want them locked up so that they never have access to children.”
Investigators discovered Gadd, who is being held without bond, was “repeatedly sexually abusing a young child he had access to” and “filming the abuse” in addition to finding 89 images and videos of children as young as 3 years old being sexually battered. He faces two counts of transmitting child pornography, 11 counts of sexual battery on a child less than 12 years old, and 20 counts of using and promoting a child in a sexual performance.
Lagos faces 32 counts of enhanced possession of child pornography charges after deputies said they found images of child as young as 8 years old being sexually battered. He is held on a $32,000 bond, amounting to $1,000 per individual charge.
According to deputies, Pillot-Osorio’s faces four counts of transmitting child pornography and 33 counts of possessing child pornography, with images of children as young as 5 months old being sexually battered. He is held without bond.
Rose, whose bond totals $585,000, or $15,000 per charge, is charged with eight counts of child pornography after he told detectives he used Kik Messenger to download images of children as young as 2 years old being sexually battered.