Child pornography investigation leads to Vero Beach man's arrest on sexual battery charge
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY − A Vero Beach man facing trial on child pornography possession charges was arrested again, on a sexual battery charge, after detectives said in reports they learned of an accusation the man assaulted a teenage girl about a month before his initial arrest.
As forensic investigators searched through a cell phone following the initial Sept. 27 arrest of Dillon Lord, they reportedly found exchanges of sexually explicit videos shared through Snapchat between the now 31-year-old and a girl they believed to be between 14 and 16, law enforcement records show.
Lord, of the 2500 block of Indian River Boulevard, was arrested Wednesday and charged with sexual battery.
Detectives began looking into Lord’s cell phone activity Sept. 14 over suspicions of child pornography uploaded to Verizon cloud services, and obtained a search warrant used in his arrest on two child pornography possession charges Sept. 27, according to law enforcement records.
Detectives said they found at least two videos depicting sex acts committed on young children, according to the documents. Lord also told detectives of approximately 10 videos on his mobile device involving children he said he thought were teens between 16 and 18, which he said he obtained through an encrypted messaging app.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges Oct. 9, according to court documents.
While speaking with the girl who accused him of assault, detectives learned in October she knew Lord through a friend and the two interacted on social media.
She told detectives the assault happened in Lord's truck, and that she told him several times to stop, she wanted to go home and tried to push him away, according to the report.
Detectives found the girl was 16 and Lord was 30 at the time of the accusation, Indian River County Sheriff’s Office documents show.
On Jan. 12, detectives sought an arrest warrant and charged Lord Tuesday with the assault.
Detectives questioned Lord about the girls’ statements but, according to the report, he refused to speak without his lawyer.
Court records show Lord was represented by Stuart-based criminal defense attorney Jeff Gorman of Jeff T. Gorman Law Offices. Neither Gorman nor another attorney familiar with the case could be reached Friday.
Lord was booked into Indian River County Jail Jan. 17 on a $125,000 bail, according to jail records.
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Corey Arwood is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow @coreyarwood, email corey.arwood@tcpalm.com or call 772-978-2246.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Child porn investigation leads to Vero Beach man's sexual battery charge
