GDP makes arrest on child exploitation charges

The Gainesville Police Department (GPD) has arrested a local man accused of posing as a minor online to solicit illicit photos from children.

Today GPD arrested Joshua S. Bryan on 10 counts of possession of child pornography, a week after serving a search warrant at 1415 SW 42nd Street, #1C, in west Gainesville, according to a GPD press release. The GPD Internet Crimes against Children division and GPD SWAT acted after receiving a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. 

The tip indicated someone had used a Dropbox account to upload and share material depicting child sexual abuse, the release said. GPD detectives accessed the account information and viewed the files and determined they were child sexual abuse material of a minor prepubescent child. That led to a search on Feb. 3.

According to GPD, Bryan denied wrongdoing and reported no knowledge of the accounts and email addresses in question. However, investigators seized numerous electronic devices, and after a digital forensic examination, discovered deleted chats, images and email addresses associated with child exploitation.

The chats revealed Bryan posed as a juvenile to solicit images from other self-reported children—actions Bryan later admitted to, according to GPD. 

GPD says the investigation and forensic analysis in the case is still ongoing.