8 suspects charged in international child pornography case, FDLE says: 'Truly heinous'
The Brief
Several people face charges in a widespread child pornography case, according to Florida officials.
Investigators say more than 1 million videos and photos were sold online, with the suspected mastermind living in Turkey.
Seven suspects from Florida are among those facing charges.
TAMPA, Fla. - Eight people, including seven from Florida, face charges in what state investigators call a "truly heinous" case of child sex abuse material sold online, officials announced on Monday.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass and FDLE Special Agent in Charge Mark Brutnell were among the officials who spoke at a news conference in Tampa.
The backstory
Brutnell says the investigation dates back to July 2024, when agents found a chat room in which they were directed to a website that sold child pornography.
An agent bought 6.7 terabytes – or roughly 1.2 million videos and photos – from the website for $100, according to Brutnell.
Investigators say the state was able to shut down the website within a week, and they soon uncovered that Krunalkumar Nareshbhai Modi from New Jersey served as a "money mole" for the site. Brutnell says a search warrant of Modi's home uncovered a "treasure trove" of child sex abuse content.
Detectives say they later found that a woman living in Portland, Oregon, identified as Ximena Del Real Maqueda, facilitated the sale of the material. A warrant has been issued for her arrest on money laundering charges.
READ: Several people knew missing Gulfport teen was being held captive before her murder: Documents
Next came the discovery of a man who went by "John," who Brutnell says ran the operation and had more than 500 recorded transactions with Modi. Investigators later identified "John" as Mehmet Berk Bozuyuk, who lives in Turkey. An arrest warrant has been issued and state officials hope to extradite him to Florida so he can face charges.
"Mr. Mehmet was very deliberate in hiding his identity," Brutnell said. "He utilized multiple layers of VPNs, money mules obviously, burner accounts, burner phones. He also used a lot of stolen personal identification information that he would steal off the web to send money to different channels."
"He really, really believed that he could outsmart us," Brutnell continued. "At the end of the day, he didn't. He tried to profit off this horrific abuse of children, but we caught him."
Dig deeper
Investigators also announced the arrests of seven Florida residents suspected of buying child sex abuse material, saying many of the suspects found the material by gaining access to a portal through TikTok. They include:
Brett Snodderly, Clearwater
Israel Thompson, Lakeland
Brett Moore, Orange City
Frankie Pineiro, Jr., Groveland
Michael Warden, Kissimmee
Jacob Conly, Fern Park
Kody Jordan-Muti, Palm Bay
More suspects have been identified in Canada and Ireland, as well, according to officials.
READ: Charter captain arrested following confrontation captured on viral video
What they're saying
Along with Brutnell, Uthmeier and Glass each had strong words for the suspects during Monday's news conference.
"I can't tell you in words how gross this content is," Uthmeier said. "But it shows the dangers, the evil that is out there. It is truly evil."
"This is evil and it will not be tolerated in the free state of Florida," Glass said.
What's next
The suspects face charges including RICO, money laundering and purchasing child pornography.
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The Source
This story was written with information from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Florida Attorney General's Office.
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