Man accused of possession of child sexual abuse material in Glades County

GLADES COUNTY, Fla. —

A man was arrested Tuesday in Glades County after he was accused of possessing child sexual abuse material.

According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, William Leroy Johnson Jr., 56, was arrested on 15 counts of possession of child sexual abuse material by Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Glades County Sheriff's Office.

The investigation started on Jan. 20 after a tip was received by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that a visual search was conducted by using images depicting child sexual abuse, FDLE said.

A visual search is a service provided by search engines that returns similar images to those provided by the user.

The tip was submitted to the Okeechobee Police Department first, but investigators identified that the IP address belonged to someone in Glades County, and FDLE took over the case.

Johnson was connected as one of the users to that IP address. On Feb. 4, a search warrant at Johnson's residence led to the seizure of a computer for digital forensic analysis. According to FDLE, hundreds of digital files containing child sexual abuse material and child erotica were identified in the analysis connected to Johnson.

FDLE and the sheriff's office arrested Johnson Tuesday, and he was transported to the Glades County Jail.

The investigation is still active, FDLE said.

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