Chipley man arrested on multiple child sexual abuse charges

CHIPLEY, Florida — A Chipley man has been arrested on charges of possessing child sexual abuse material and violating sex offender registration laws, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Timothy William Borton, a 58-year-old registered sex offender from Chipley, was taken into custody on October 23. He faces 10 counts of possession of child sexual abuse material and two counts of violating sex offender registration, stated the FDLE. The investigation began on June 5 after FDLE agents received a cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The tip alerted agents to a social media account uploading a video file depicting the sexual abuse of children.

The investigation traced the social media account to Borton's residence, revealing that the accounts had not been reported as required by Florida’s sex offender registration laws. A forensic preview of Borton's cellphone, conducted during the execution of a search warrant at his residence, uncovered several files of child sexual exploitation, according to the FDLE.

Borton was booked into the Washington County Jail, and the case will be prosecuted by the Office of the State Attorney, 14th Judicial Circuit. This is not Borton's first encounter with the law; he was previously arrested by the FDLE in 2020 for possession and transmission of child sexual abuse material and was found guilty of possession that same year.

For more information on keeping children safe online, the FDLE encourages visiting their website. Additionally, citizens can access Florida’s Sex Offender Registry through the FDLE Mobile App and online.