A 23-year-old Florida man previously charged with possession of child porn now faces more than 1,000 additional charges.
Last month, officials arrested Johnathan Jhovanni Hernandez, accused of two counts of possession of child pornography, two counts of transmitting child pornography, and a single count of using a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony, Fox News reported Saturday.
The arrest took place once authorities got a tip from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
“At that time, we told you the investigation was just getting started and there would likely be more charges. What we should have said was there would likely be A LOT more charges — like more than anyone in our county … ever,” the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office explained in a social media post Wednesday:
Just looking through one of the 15 electronic devices the Special Victims Unit seized from Hernandez when he was arrested in December resulted in Hernandez (who was out on bond) being arrested again yesterday and hit with an additional 1,182 counts of possession of child pornography as well as four counts of possession of beastiality images. Those last four charges are under a new law that just went into effect on Oct. 1 of last year.
We told you about 23-year-old Johnathan Jhovanni Hernandez on Dec. 29 when he was arrested for two counts of possession…
Posted by Highlands County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday, January 11, 2023
The United States Department of Justice defines child pornography as a type of child sexual exploitation, and such images are also known as child sexual abuse images.
“The expansion of the Internet and advanced digital technology lies parallel to the explosion of the child pornography market,” the agency said.
“Child pornography images are readily available through virtually every Internet technology, including social networking websites, file-sharing sites, photo-sharing sites, gaming devices, and even mobile apps,” it stated.
According to the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network (RAINN), children cannot consent to images and video recordings of their abuse and the distribution of such things.
“Every explicit photo or video of a kid is actually evidence that the child has been a victim of sexual abuse,” the organization explained.
Per the sheriff’s office, it remained unclear how many charges the suspect may face if investigators combed through each of the devices in the case.
“Detectives say Hernandez’s collection of child porn is the largest they have ever seen. As it stands now, Hernandez is being held on a bond of just over $2.4 million and has enough charges to possibly land him life in prison,” the agency concluded.
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