News and Investigations

From February to April 2019, Polk County Sheriff’s Computer Crimes detectives served search warrants and made 12 arrests during “Operation Guardians of Innocence III” which focused on identifying and arresting those involved in the possession, promotion, and distribution of child pornography. A total of 640 felonies were filed against the suspects, with more charges pending.

“This investigation is still ongoing – once we serve search warrants and seize the devices that these suspects are using to download and distribute pornography, we will do a complete forensic analysis, and in all likelihood we will be adding on more charges related to the felony possession and distribution of images and videos of children being sexually battered. Four of the 12 suspects we arrested have criminal histories involving sex crimes against children – further demonstrating there is a correlation between those who view child pornography and those who sexually abuse children.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff

A search warrant was executed at 3535 Red Oak Court in Lake Wales, where 49-year-old Richard Parr lives. Detectives received a National Center for Missing and Endangered Children (NCMEC) tip that child pornography files were being uploaded by a computer user at that address. Detectives responded to the home and talked with Parr, who admitted that the computer equipment was his. During an initial preview of the equipment, detectives located files depicting child pornography with victims between the ages of 5 and 15 years old. They seized the equipment for further analysis. Parr was a firefighter employed by Polk County Fire Rescue – he resigned upon his arrest. He was taken into custody without incident and charged with:
• 22 counts possession of child pornography - enhanced (F-2)

A search warrant was executed at a residence in Winter Haven, where 36-year-old Wade Menard’s mother lives. Detectives received a tip that child pornography files were being downloaded by a computer user at that address, on Sundays. Detectives responded to the home and talked with Menard’s mother, who admitted Wade visits every Sunday, and that he set up her computer server and uses it when he’s there. Wade was previously arrested by PCSO in 2009 for lewd and lascivious molestation on a victim under 12, and served three years in state prison. He’s a registered sexual predator and is currently serving 15 years’ probation. He was arrested in 2018 for failure to register. During an initial preview of the equipment, detectives located files depicting child pornography with victims as young as 2 years old. They seized the equipment for further analysis. Wade Menard works at Computer Plus in Winter Haven, where detectives made contact with him. He admitted to setting up the computer server at his mother’s house, and using it when he visits each Sunday. He was taken into custody without incident and charged with:
• 33 counts possession of child pornography - enhanced (F-2)
• 1 count promotion of child pornography (F-2)
• 1 count VOP lewd/lascivious conduct (F-2)
• 1 count VOP failure to register (M-2)

A search warrant was executed at 613 Chicago Way in Dundee, where 32-year-old Timothy Cottenham II lives with his parents. Detectives received a tip that someone at the residence was uploading child pornography. During an initial preview of the equipment, detectives located files depicting child pornography with victims as young as 2-4 years old. They seized the equipment for further analysis. Detectives interviewed Cottenham, who admitted to downloading child pornography since he was 17 years old. He is employed at a car dealership in Winter Haven in the shipping and parts department. He was taken into custody and charged with:
• 100 counts possession of child pornography - enhanced (F-2)

A search warrant was executed at 827 2nd Lake Ida Street in Winter Haven, where 42-year-old Owen “David” Yates lives with his mother. Detectives received a tip that child pornography files were being downloaded by a computer user at that address. Detectives responded to the home and talked with Yates, who admitted that the computer equipment was his. During an initial preview of the equipment, detectives located files depicting child pornography with victims as young as 4 years old. They seized the equipment for further analysis. Yates told detectives he’s been viewing child pornography since he was in his 30s. He was taken into custody without incident and charged with:
• 4 counts possession of child pornography (F-3)
• 1 count promotion of child pornography (F-2)

A search warrant was executed at an apartment complex located at 3924 North Scenic Hwy in Lake Wales, in response to a tip that someone was uploading child pornography to a social media site. Detectives responded to apartment #16, and discovered that 27-year-old Johnny Emmons, Jr., in apartment #15, was using the Internet network of the person living in apartment #16. Emmons is a registered sex offender, who was arrested in 2015 during an undercover child pornography investigation and spent two years in state prison – he’s currently on probation. As a condition of his sex offender and probation status, he cannot be on the Internet. Detectives obtained a search warrant for his apartment (#15), and found a gaming console in his apartment, connected to his neighbor’s Internet. During an initial preview of his cell phone, detectives located files depicting child pornography with victims as young as 12 months old. They seized the equipment for further analysis. He was taken into custody and charged with:
• 41 counts possession of child pornography – enhanced (F-2)
• 1 count violation of probation 

A search warrant was executed at 243 Oxford Road in Davenport, where 54-year-old Jerome Lingenfelter lives with his wife. During an initial preview of his devices, detectives located files depicting child pornography with victims between the ages of 6 and 12 years old. Lingenfelter told detectives he’s been viewing child pornography for the past 15 years. He was arrested in 1989 in Sanford, FL, for a felony sex offense against a child – that charge was later reduced to misdemeanor indecent exposure. When detectives asked him about the arrest, he said he was viewing pornography in a supermarket parking lot while masturbating and watching women and children walk by. He was taken into custody and charged with: 
• 5 counts possession of child pornography (F-3)

A search warrant was executed at 100 Tower Manor Circle East in Auburndale, where 34-year-old Marc Aaron Burzynski lives. Detectives received a tip that someone at the residence was downloading child pornography. During an initial preview of the equipment, detectives located one file depicting child pornography. They seized the equipment for further analysis. Detectives interviewed Burzynski, who admitted to downloading child pornography and said it was related to an arrest when he was a juvenile, for lewd and lascivious battery on a victim under 12 years old. His criminal history includes prior arrests in New York for forgery. He is employed as a customer service rep for an Internet and cable company. He was taken into custody and charged with:
• 1 count possession of child pornography (F-3)
• 1 count promotion of child pornography (F-2)

A search warrant was executed at 223 Orange Street Apt. 3 in Auburndale, where 44-year-old Jesse Whitehead lives. Detectives received a tip that someone at the residence was downloading child pornography. During an initial preview of the equipment, detectives located files depicting child pornography. They seized the equipment for further analysis. Detectives interviewed Whitehead, who admitted to downloading child pornography with victims as young as 10 years old. He is an assistant manager at a Taco Bell. He was taken into custody and charged with:
• 76 counts possession of child pornography – enhanced (F-2)
• 1 count promotion of child pornography (F-2)

A search warrant was executed at a residence in Lake Wales, recently vacated by 18-year-old Brooklyn Childs. Detectives received a tip that someone at the residence was downloading child pornography. During an initial preview of the equipment, detectives located files depicting child pornography with victims as young as babies. They seized the equipment for further analysis. Detectives interviewed Childs, who admitted to saving the files and then sending them to others online. Childs has a previous arrest for battery domestic violence, and was taken into custody and charged with:
• 3 counts possession of child pornography (F-3)
• 1 count promotion of child pornography (F-2)

As previously reported, on February 27, 2019, PCSO detectives arrested a married Lake Wales couple, 29-year-old Jesse Butler and his wife, 30-year-old Katie Butler, after receiving a NCMEC tip that a video containing child pornography was uploaded and sent from Jesse to Katie via Facebook Messenger. Detectives executed a search warrant at their home, 511 High Street in Lake Wales, and found over 40 images and videos depicting child pornography. Jesse Butler was arrested and charged with possession of child pornography (F-3), transmission of child pornography (F-3), possession of a controlled substance (F-3), and possession of paraphernalia (M-1). He remains in jail on $21,000 bond. Katie Butler was arrested and charged with 40 counts possession of child pornography (F-2), possession of a controlled substance (F-3), and possession of paraphernalia (M-1). She remains in jail on $200,000 bond ($5,000 per charge). Click here to read the previously sent news release. 

As previously reported, on March 7, 2019, PCSO detectives served a search warrant at 610 Peninsular Drive in Lakeland, where 61-year-old Dr. Brian Birky lives. He was initially arrested for 9 counts possession of child pornography (F-3), and was re-arrested on March 14th after forensic analysis of his equipment, for 300 additional counts possession of child pornography (F-2). He was released from the Polk County Jail on April 25, 2019, after posting $609,000 bond ($1,000 per the initial nine F-3 charges, and $2,000 per each added-on F-2 charge). Click here to read the previously sent news release.