Nine South Florida men and one underage teen have been arrested on numerous charges after police say a six-month investigation revealed more than 100,000 images and videos of child pornography.
The charges against the suspects include possession of sexual performance by a child, transmission of material harmful to minors, lewd and lascivious battery on a child, attempted sexual activity with a minor and promoting sexual performance by a child, Miami-Dade Police said in a statement Monday.
The suspects arrested are James Abravaya, 67; Dionte Black, 19; Antonio Byrd, 28; James Chatelian, 23; Taylor Dansby, 21; Jorge Gomez-Hernandez, 24; Yenray Pereira, 37; Carlos Amasifuen, Jr, 18; Matthew Grenet, 23; and a 15-year-old.
Detectives served numerous search warrants and subpoenas during the six-month investigation, and preliminary forensic examination of electronic devices found more than 100,000 images and videos of child pornography with victims as young as three to nine months old, police said. Miami-Dade Police worked with Miami Police, the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office and Homeland Security in the investigation.
"We need to as adults and responsible community members, we need to take this situation very serious," Miami-Dade Police Det. Alvaro Zabaleta said. "Simply because of the fact that somebody's watching child pornography people may think that's 'well they're just watching it, they're not doing anything wrong.' What they're watching is behind every video and behind every photo, there's a victim, and that's what we need to strive to stop."
Investigators believe there may be more victims and are asking anyone with information to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
