FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A man appeared in Fort Lauderdale federal court Thursday on three criminal charges after prosecutors allege that agents netted him in an ongoing investigation into “large-scale group chats” dedicated to sharing images and videos showing the sexual abuse of children.
According to court documents obtained by Local 10 News on Friday, the federal investigation into Jason Christopher Davis, 41, of Cooper City, started with the bust of a Massachusetts man in December.
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That man, identified only by the initials “J.L.,” had access to more than 50 illicit group chats and allowed Homeland Security Investigations agents to assume his identity online as they seek to identify and prosecute participants.
Authorities said Davis participated in two group chats on a chat application, which was left unnamed in court documents so as to not “potentially alert its members to the investigation and cause members to flee or destroy evidence.”
One of those groups, agents allege, had a name “descriptive of ‘preschool’ children.”
Authorities said Davis contributed two images to the group showing boys, one of whom was as young as 8, being sexually abused. The documents don’t state whether agents suspect Davis was shown in or created the photos.
The court documents state that HSI agents and members of the South Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force executed a federal search warrant at Davis’ home on Edgehill Lane Wednesday.
Authorities said a preliminary search of Davis’ devices revealed “numerous files” of child sexual abuse material in his photo gallery.
They said Davis later “admitted to viewing, downloading and distributing” child sexual abuse material and joining “multiple chats” dedicated to the illicit content within the unidentified application.
He told investigators “he believes he has an addiction to pornography and has been viewing child pornography for a few years,” agents allege in the court documents.
Davis was booked into the Broward Main Jail and is facing charges of access with intent to view child pornography, possession of child pornography and distribution of child pornography.