Mainstreet Daily News
Gainesville police arrested two men over the past week with possession of child pornography.
According to two Gainesville Police Department (GPD) releases, Richard Ashbrook, 56, and Aaron Pioquinto, 20, were arrested for possession of child pornography.
The GPD Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Division received Cyber Tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) on both men which led to the investigation.
Ashbrook – following an investigation that started on Nov. 29, 2022, after the GPD ICAC team served a warrant at his 4229 NW 43rd Street address – turned himself in on Feb. 8 and was arrested for 11 counts of possession of child pornography and 1 count of distribution of child exploitation material.
Ashbrook originally denied ownership of the account in question where photos were uploaded, but later said he did save child abuse material – both images and videos – because he was “trying to see how prominent the problem was,” according to the release.
Numerous electronic devices were seized from Ashbrook’s residence and a forensic analysis discovered more than 100 child sexual abuse images.
On Feb. 8, Ashbrook was notified by GPD and turned himself in where he was arrested.
The GPD ICAC team served a search warrant on Thursday at 8125 NW 52nd St. The investigation revealed that images were uploaded to a location where Pioquinto resided.
After being interviewed, Pioquinto admitted that the account where the images were downloaded was his. He also acknowledged several other accounts in question belonged to him. A preliminary analysis of one of Pioquinto’s electronic devices located a number of images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children.
Pioquinto was arrested and charged with 10 counts of possession of child pornography.