Child pornography trial set for Sarasota runner caught in Mexico. Here's what to know
A Sarasota man who was apprehended almost two years ago by law enforcement in Mexico after being on the run since 2017 is expected to stand trial next week.
John Pyle, 67, was well-known among the running community in Sarasota before he was arrested in 2016 and charged with 30 counts of possessing child pornography. He was also later charged for failing to appear at a hearing while on bail.
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Sarasota police tipped off by National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
In June 2016, Sarasota Police Department detectives searched Pyle's condo on South Osprey Avenue after receiving tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
When detectives arrived at Pyle's residence, they briefly spoke with Pyle before he requested an attorney. Following a search of devices at the condo, detectives found 31 images of child pornography, 15 images containing sexual misconduct, and two images of child pornography involving bondage on Pyle's laptop, Sarasota Police Department detectives allege in the arrest reports.
Pyle was taken to the Sarasota County Jail where he later bonded out for $90,000, according to jail records.
What is John Pyle known for?
In 2012, Pyle ran 3,273 miles across the country from San Francisco to Key West, starting on March 1 to May 20, carrying a 3-by-5-foot American flag every step of the way to raise money and awareness for the Wounded Warrior Project.
Pyle ran 83 straight days, averaging 39.69 miles per day, according to previous Herald-Tribune reporting. He went through 22 pairs of shoes, 166 Band-Aids, 200 gallons of water and 40 pounds of ice. Pyle ran through about 1,000 miles of desert while wearing ski goggles and 800 miles through Texas.
Of the 83 days, he walked for 10 of them because of severe shin splints, according to previous reporting.
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What is the Wounded Warrior Project?
The Wounded Warrior Project is a nonprofit national organization started in 2003 through grass-roots efforts to help wounded service members returning home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan recover and transition back into civilian life.
How did John Pyle flee the country?
Following his arrest, Pyle posted a $90,000 bond and was scheduled to appear in court for a pre-trial court hearing on Oct. 23, 2017. However, Pyle never appeared in court for the hearing, and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest, according to previous Herald-Tribune reporting and court records.
It was later discovered that Pyle had boarded a Carnival Cruise Lines ship to Cozumel, Mexico, despite having to surrender his passport as part of his bond, according to previous reporting. Pyle then got off the ship and didn't return.
“For all intents and purposes, he’s gotten away,’’ Ryan Raftery, vice president of A Way Out Bail Bonds in Punta Gorda, said in previous reporting. The bail bonds company was the one that bonded Pyle out of jail.
In court documents, company officials said they learned of Pyle's whereabouts when the cruise lines company called Pyle's brother and left a message about him not returning to the ship. The company obtained a copy of the voicemail recording and the information was verified by a U.S. Marshals Service deputy.
How was John Pyle apprehended in Mexico?
In June 2022, the Sarasota Police Department announced that authorities with the U.S. Marshals Mexican Foreign Field Office and Mexican Immigration arrested Pyle in Merida, Mexico, on June 11.
Pyle was transferred to the custody of U.S. Marshals Florida/Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force Miami Field Office later that same day and was held at the Miami Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Center in Miami until he was transported back to Sarasota.
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Case initially scheduled for trial in November 2023. Why was it pushed back?
Pyle has been in custody since he was apprehended in Mexico and has been at the Sarasota County Jail since he was transported from Miami.
A trial was initially scheduled for November 2023; however, after Pyle filed motions to dismiss the case, the trial was canceled, and a hearing was scheduled for late January 2024 to review the motions.
One court record mentioned that "many images for which he is charged are of simply nudity, as were the images used to support the issuance of the search warrant herein." Pyle is challenging the facial validity and stating it is an unconstitutional burden on his First Amendment rights, unconstitutionally vague, overbroad, and lacks due process. Pyle also put in a motion to suppress all evidence that law enforcement obtained as a result of two unlawful searches.
Sarasota Circuit Court Judge Thomas Krug recently entered his order from the January hearing on Tuesday denying the motion to suppress, finding that SPD Detective Megan Buck met the "four corners of the affidavit" criteria for the probable cause affidavit, meaning that there was sufficient evidence to warrant a search of Pyle's home and that there was "a fair probability that evidence of child pornography would be located at Defendant’s residence."
Gabriela Szymanowska covers the legal system for the Herald-Tribune in partnership with Report for America. You can support her work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America. Contact Gabriela Szymanowska at gszymanowska@gannett.com, or on X: @GabrielaSzyman3.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Trial to start for Sarasota runner John Pyle, who fled to Mexico
