OCSO: Child porn found on Crestview sex offender's laptop after he tried to give it away
CRESTVIEW — A registered sex offender was arrested during the weekend after investigators said they found child pornography on a computer he tried to pawn off to another person.
Harold Laverne Benedict, 72, of Crestview is charged with possession of child pornography and use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony, according to an Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office news release.
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He has been registered as a sex offender since 1995 when he was convicted of sexual battery of a child younger than 12 and committing or simulating sexual acts on or in the presence of a child younger than 16 in a lewd or lascivious manner, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
His previous convictions also stemmed out of Okaloosa County. According to Benedict’s arrest report, deputies began investigating after a Crestview resident came to the Sheriff's Office on June 27 to turn over a laptop computer.
What the arrest report states
The man told deputies he and his two children were fishing when they began talking with an older person sitting in an early 2000s green SUV.
The person, later identified as Benedict, told them he "was out of gas and was waiting for a friend to come help," the report said. When the man offered to help Benedict, he insisted on repaying him and offered him a laptop computer.
The man took the laptop home and checked it to make sure it was OK for his children.
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According to the report, many typical programs on the laptop were missing. Upon opening the "Recycle Bin," he found multiple pictures and videos that deputies said depicted children between 4 and 12 years old performing sexual acts.
Investigators reviewed the contents of the laptop after the man turned it over.
According to Benedict's arrest report, there were at least five files depicting child pornography that had been deleted between May 1 and June 27. Some of the filenames were labeled "underage," deputies said.
The computer was frequently connected to Wi-Fi using a hot spot generated by a smartphone. Investigators found a serial number that matched Benedict's phone and brought him in for questioning Sept. 2.
During an interview, Benedict identified the laptop as being "most likely his," the report said. He also allowed investigators to review his cellphone.
According to the OCSO, various images of child porn were found on his cellphone, along with the search term "real young girls."
Benedict was booked into the Okaloosa County jail and was being held Tuesday on a $250,000 bond, according to jail records.
This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Crestview registered sex offender charged with child porn possession
