SUNRISE, Fla. – Dropbox reported a user to the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children, but the tip didn’t result in an arrest until about 16 months later.
Recommended Videos
In 2023, a detective reported tracking the tip to a Comcast account in Okeechobee County and talking to a woman who said she had shared the password with two men who had worked on the property’s renovation.
The Okeechobee County detective reported completing a search warrant for the Dropbox account on Feb. 2, 2024.
It wasn’t until Feb. 3 that another detective reported learning that there were “images and videos” showing child sex abuse and files that identified a suspect.
According to the arrest report, the Dropbox account stored Capital One bank statements addressed to Joseph Dougherty in Sunrise in addition to “explicit self-made photos and videos.”
The SWAT team showed up unannounced at Dougherty’s home on Wednesday in Sunrise, searched his property, and handcuffed him, police said.
Court records show Dougherty is facing 10 counts of possession or control or view depiction of child sex conduct and one count of knowingly compiling, entering into, or transmitting child porn by use of a computer.
A judge set his bond at $82,500. Inmate records show Broward Sheriff’s Office correctional deputies held Dougherty at the Paul Rein Detention Facility on Friday in Pompano Beach.
Broward County Circuit Judge Marina Garcia Wood was set to preside over the case.