Freeport man charged with 18 counts of possession of child porn

WALTON COUNTY, Fla. ( WMBB ) – A Freeport man has been arrested and is facing more than a dozen felony charges for the possession and transmission of child pornography.

In February, the WCSO Cyber Crimes Unit received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about 34-year-old Timothy Watson transmitting Child Sexual Abuse Material through several emails, officials said.

This case was originally assigned to the Tallahassee Police Department but was transferred to WCSO after an investigation showed the IP address used was located in Freeport.

According to authorities, on March 5th, a search warrant was served to Google LLC about the tipped email accounts. The search warrant revealed numerous files containing child pornography. After a review of these files, a search warrant was obtained to search the suspect’s residence.

On Wednesday, the Cyber Crimes Unit alongside the WCSO SWAT Team conducted a search warrant at 161 Dickens Drive in Freeport. During the search, multiple electronic devices were seized including Watson’s phone found in his bedroom, investigators said.

In a news release, an onsite search of the phone was found to have data linking it to the reported email address from the NCMEC tip. The seized devices were then transported to WCSO Digital Lab for forensic processing, officials wrote.

Watson was charged with 18 counts of possession of child pornography, 28 counts of transmitting child pornography, and the use of a two-way device in the commission of a felony.

He was booked into the Walton County Jail where he awaits his first appearance.

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