Polk County Sheriff's Office arrests 8 in child

Eight Polk County residents have been arrested by Polk County Sheriff's Office after a monthlong child pornography investigation

Sheriff Grady Judd said detectives seized 1,276 images of "horrible, frightening" child pornography after receiving tips from the National Center for Missing and Endangered Children. No victims have identified by the investigation so far, as work as still underway.

"These videos and photographs are some of the most horrific my detectives have ever seen — images of children being forced to expose their genitalia and raped. Each time one of these monsters uploads and shares child pornography, they are feeding the child exploitation pipeline and they are victimizing children over and over again," Judd said in a press release Thursday. "Parents, this is another stark reminder of why it is important to get all in your child's business when it comes to their gaming stations, cell phones, and other electronic devices."

On April 24, PCSO's Office of Emergency Communications Center received a call that self-employed photographer Stefan Young, 58, of Lakeland, had posted a Craig's List ad for a mother with two young daughters to contact him. The tipster said when contacted, Young disclosed he conducted boudoir shoots with children as young as 13. An undercover detective responded to Young's advertisement. Young told the detective he would conduct a boudoir-style photoshoot with an underage girl. Young began an online conversation with a different undercover detective who was posing as a 13-year-old girl and asked if he could take nude photos of her, according to the Sheriff's Office. Young requested the "13-year-old" to "sneak" a picture of herself and send it to him. Polk deputies executed a search warrant at Young's residence May 25 and during a review of his devices found three lewd images of a 9 year old, the Sheriff's Office said. Young was arrested and charged with three felony counts of child pornography. He is being held in jail on $30,000 bond.

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The other individuals arrested are: