Polk Detectives Arrest Nine Men in Child Porn Investigation

TBO
May 1, 2014

http://tbo.com/news/crime/polk-detectives-arrest-nine-men-arrested-in-child-porn-investigation-20140501/

Nine men, including a church worker and a member of the military, are under arrest after a child pornography investigation in Polk County.

Sheriff’s office investigators, executing search warrants Tuesday and Wednesday, also found that two of the men sexually molested two children under the age of 16.

According to the sheriff’s office these are the suspects and charges:

¦?Detectives went to the home of Larry Bencar, 68, of 4222 Simms Road in Lakeland, in reference to someone sharing images of child pornography over the Internet. Investigators found at least 11 images or videos of child pornography on his computer. At least one of the images depicted a child under the age of 5 years old being sexually battered. Bencar, who is married, told detectives he is retired from the Department of Treasury where he was a computer programmer. He is charged with 11 counts of possession of images depicting sexual performance by a child.

¦? A search warrant was executed at the home of Joseph Carberg, 63, at 5650 New Tampa Hwy., in Lakeland, in reference to someone child porn over the Internet. Carberg told detectives he has been viewing child pornography since 2010, prefers preteen girls and knew why detectives were at his home. He is charged with 40 counts of possession of images depicting sexual performance by a child.

¦? Investigators went to the home of Keith Crump, 45, at 1880 Crystal Lake Drive #44, in Lakeland, after a tip that someone was trying to share child pornography via email. Crump admitted to detectives he has been viewing child pornography for several years, and that the age of the youngest child was 4 years old or younger. Crump told detectives he was trying to share images of child pornography with his friend, Tavis Bell. Crump told detectives he is employed as a registered nurse for the Florida Department of Health.

Crump also admitted to having sex with two juvenile boys. Detectives identified the victims and added those charges against him. He is charged with promoting sexual performance of a child, possession of images depicting sexual performance by a child; two counts of sexual battery on a victim under 12 years of age; two counts of lewd exhibition on a victim under 16 years of age; two counts of lewd battery; and two counts of lewd molestation on a victim under 16 years of age.

¦? The conversation with Crump led detectives to Bell, 40, of 203 Keystone Road in Auburndale, as a suspect who engages in sexually battering children – two juvenile boys under the age of 16 years old. Bell was charged with seven counts of sexual battery on victim under 18 years old, two counts of lewd exhibition on a victim under 16 years of age; and two counts of negligent child abuse.

Through the investigation of Crump and Bell, detectives identified Crump’s partner and roommate, Timothy Peargin, 54, of 1880 Crystal Lake Drive North #44, in Lakeland, as knowing about but not reporting the sexual abuse of the children and the distribution of child pornography. Peargin told detectives he has been in a relationship with Crump for approximately six years, and has known about the child pornography for approximately four years. Peargin is the organist and choir director at St. David’s Episcopal Church on Edgewood Drive in Lakeland. Peargin told detectives he suspected there might be sexual abuse of children at the residence and knew he should have reported it, and the child pornography, but was giving Crump “one more chance to never do that again.” He is charged with one count of failing to report child abuse.

¦? Investigators executed a search warrant at the home of Dennis Swecker, 58, of 1510 Hillside Drive in Mulberry, in reference to someone at that address sharing images of child pornography on the Internet. Swecker told detectives he has been viewing child pornography for “quite a few years” and uses peer-to-peer programs to download it. He was charged with one count of promoting sexual performance of a child, and 11 counts of possession of images depicting sexual performance by a child.

¦?Investigators also executed a search warrant at the home of Brian Mitchell, 20, at 28920 U.S. Hwy. 27 in Dundee, after getting a tip that someone at the address was sharing child pornography online. Mitchell admitted to detectives that he has been downloading and viewing child pornography. He was charged with one count of promoting sexual performance of a child and 60 counts possession of images depicting sexual performance by a child.

¦? A search warrant was executed at the home of Gonzalo Cardona, 34, at 221 Madina Circle in Davenport, in reference to someone sharing images of child pornography online. Detectives checked the computer there and found approximately 40 images and videos depicting the sexual performance of a child less than 5 years old. Cardona is in military technical training in Virginia, and detectives obtained a warrant for his arrest on 40 counts possession of images depicting sexual performance by a child. He was taken into custody at Fort Eustis, Va., and Polk detectives will interview him there.

¦? Investigators also executed a search warrant at the home of Peter Buckley, 37, at 9 Forest Drive in Davenport, in reference to someone sharing images of child pornography online. Buckley told detectives that he has been downloading and viewing child pornography for years, and that the images are of children as young as 4 and 5 years old. He estimated that he had between 100 to 150 images on his computer and/or thumb drive. He was charged with 40 counts possession of images depicting sexual performance by a child.