WINTER HAVEN – A tip made to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office led to the arrest on Friday of a convicted felon who had images of nude children engaged in sexual acts on his computer.
There was also a video on the computer of an adult having sex with a girl estimated to be about 11 years old, Polk detectives said. It led to an arrest for possession of child porn, of a man who was on five years of community supervision for a grand theft conviction.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said he wanted to personally thank the person who made the call to his office, saying without the public’s help, it would be harder to find suspects who violate laws against child pornography.
“The citizen who contacted detectives did the right thing,” Judd said. “These images are disturbing.”
The man who got arrested was 33-year-old David R. Conner, who lives at 118 Florida Drive in Winter Haven. He’s well known to both Polk County law enforcement and the Florida prison system, though.
“Conner has a lengthy criminal arrest history in Polk County,” said Donna C. Wood, public information officer for the Polk County Sheriff’s office, in her release on the case.
She said his past criminal history in Polk County includes charges of armed burglary, armed robbery, armed kidnapping, possession of a controlled substance, driving while his license has been suspended, petit theft, fraud, forgery, grand theft, and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.
The arrest happened on Friday afternoon around 1 p.m., after the Polk County Sheriff’s Office got a tip that a man living in Winter Haven had child pornography on his computer.
Detectives went to the home on 118 Florida Drive, and was told by a man living at the house that he had discovered child pornography on his roommate’s computer. Detectives found the computer in a common room in the home.
“Video images of nude children, estimated to be approximately 10-years of age, were displayed engaging in sexual acts with each other, and a second video displayed images of an adult male having sex with what appeared to be an 11-year-old girl, were found on the computer,” Wood noted.
Conner was not at the house at the time detectives discovered those the images, but he returned to the home later that afternoon, and was confronted by detectives.
“Conner admitted to downloading child pornography and was placed under arrest,” Wood noted.
He was charged with possession of child pornography, and is currently being held in the Polk County Jail. Conner was denied bond.
Wood said the investigation is on-going, while Judd added that his office takes very seriously anyone who downloads illegal sexual images of children.
“Arresting those who would possess, view, and distribute these violent acts against children will continue to be a priority,” the sheriff said.
In June 1996, Conner was convicted of burglary to a dwelling and sentenced to one year, eight months and 23 days in a state prison. He was sent to the Lake City Correctional Institute and was released on March 16, 2000.
In July 2009, he was convicted of fraudulent use of a personal I.D., forgery and grand theft, and sentenced to five years of community supervision by the Florida Department of Corrections.
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