- April 18, 2024
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A Palm Coast man was arrested Jan. 10 on 20 counts of child pornography possession after almost five months of investigative work by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
The man, Carlos Rivera Hernandez, 32, is a registered sex offender who was convicted in 2015 of sexual battery of a minor.
“We do not tolerate crimes against children in Flagler County,” Sheriff Rick Staly said, according to a news release from the Sheriff’s Office.
FCSO deputies arrested Hernandez on Tuesday from a house on Secretary Trail.
In August, the FCSO had taken over an investigation initiated by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which received a tip in April 22 that 41 files of child sexual abuse material had been uploaded onto a website, according to the news release.
The Sheriff’s Office served a warrant in November and searched Hernandez’s workplace in Bunnell in connection with the NCMEC tip, the press release said.
Detectives found “numerous social media applications and [child sexual abuse material] on the devices that were seized,” the release said.
Hernandez was arrested at his home on Secretary Trail and charged with the 20 counts of child pornography and one count of failure to report internet identifiers, which registered sex offenders are required to report.
Hernandez was taken to the Flagler County jail on Jan. 10 and is being held on $515,000 bail.
The FCSO Cyber Crimes Unit, Crime Scene Investigation, SWAT and Major Case Units worked together on the investigation, the press release said.
“These cases take time to investigate,” Staly said, “but our Cyber Crimes Unit and detectives will come after you if you are exploiting children and build a strong case to put you away for a long time.”
