8 Polk men arrested in child-pornography investigation

Eight Polk County residents have been arrested by Polk County Sheriff's Office after a monthlong child pornography investigation

Sheriff Grady Judd said detectives seized 1,276 images of "horrible, frightening" child pornography after receiving tips from the National Center for Missing and Endangered Children. No victims have identified by the investigation so far, as work as still underway.

“These videos and photographs are some of the most horrific my detectives have ever seen — images of children being forced to expose their genitalia and raped. Each time one of these monsters uploads and shares child pornography, they are feeding the child exploitation pipeline and they are victimizing children over and over again," Judd said in a press release Thursday. "Parents, this is another stark reminder of why it is important to get all in your child’s business when it comes to their gaming stations, cell phones, and other electronic devices.”

On April 24, PCSO's Office of Emergency Communications Center received a call that self-employed photographer Stefan Young, 58, of Lakeland, had posted a Craig's List ad for a mother with two young daughters to contact him. The tipster said when contacted, Young disclosed he conducted boudoir shoots with children as young as 13. An undercover detective responded to Young's advertisement. Young told the detective he would conduct a boudoir-style photoshoot with an underage girl. Young began an online conversation with a different undercover detective who was posing as a 13-year-old girl and asked if he could take nude photos of her, according to the Sheriff's Office. Young requested the "13-year-old" to "sneak" a picture of herself and send it to him. Polk deputies executed a search warrant at Young's residence May 25 and during a review of his devices found three lewd images of a 9 year old, the Sheriff's Office said. Young was arrested and charged with three felony counts of child pornography. He is being held in jail on $30,000 bond.

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The other individuals arrested are:

• William Cuevas, 49, of Auburndale is charged with 66 felony counts of enhanced possession of child pornography and one felony count of possession of child pornography. The Sheriff's Office said Cuevas had images and videos of children as young as 4 being sexually battered. He is being held in Polk County Jail on $155,000 bond.

• Davenport resident Reid Donaldson, 24, has been arrested and charged with 11 counts of enhanced possession of child pornography. Donaldson had videos and images of children as young as 3 being sexually battered, according to PCSO. He is being held in jail on $110,000 bond.

• Jay Homuth, 52, of Lakeland faces 97 felony charges of enhanced possession of child pornography. Homuth told detectives he is addicted to child pornography and is uncertain how many files would be found on his devices, according to sheriff's reports. Investigators said he had images and videos of children as young as five-years-old being sexually battered. Homuth is being held in jail on $485,000 bond.

• Polk City resident Shayne Osborne, 33, is charged with 201 felony counts of enhanced possession of child pornography. Detectives said Osborne said he came across child pornography while searching for bestiality pornography, and claimed to delete it after downloading it. During an on-scene review of his devices, the Sheriff's Office said detectives found video and images of children as young as a year old being sexually battered.

• David Sparks, 66, of Lakeland is charged with 350 felony counts of enhanced possession of child pornography. Detectives found Sparks had images of children as young as three-months-old being sexually battered, according to the Sheriff's Office. He is being held on $1.75 million bond.

• Haines City resident Ryan Thomas, 39, faces 11 felony charges of enhanced possession of child pornography. Detectives found images and videos of children as young as 5 being sexually battered on his electronic devices, according to the Sheriff's Office. Thomas is being held in jail on $55,000 bond.

• Paul Viel, 40, of Davenport was arrested and charged with 540 counts of enhanced possession of child pornography. Viel's electronic devices were found to have images and videos of newborns being sexually battered, according to the Sheriff's Office. He is being held in jail on $2.7 million bond.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Polk County Sheriff's Office arrests 8 in child-porn investigation