Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Alysa D. Erichs, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s, Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) and Scott Israel, Broward Sheriff’s Office, announce the indictment of Thomas Edler, 48, of Weston, on child pornography charges. Edler has appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick M. Hunt in Fort Lauderdale and was detained pending trial.
The four-count indictment charges Edler with three counts of production of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 2251(a) and 2252(a). If convicted, Edler faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum sentence of up 30 years. Edler would also be required to register as a sex offender in any jurisdiction in which he lives, works or attends school.
According to documents filed with the court, in February 2013, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) requested the assistance of the South Florida Internet Crimes against Children (ICAC) Task Force to help identify a child who appeared in numerous images of child pornography that had been recovered across the county. These images had been previously identified and categorized by NCMEC as the “Dave" series. During the investigation that followed, detectives assigned to the South Florida ICAC Task Force determined that the images in the “Dave" series were taken at Edler’s Weston residence.
On April 9, 2013, law enforcement executed a federal search warrant at Edler’s residence and seized several items of electronic media. A forensic analysis revealed numerous images of children under the age of 12 in sexually suggestive poses. These images were taken with a camera belonging to Edler. Subsequent forensic investigation revealed that a camera belonging to Edler was also used to photograph a series of child pornography images categorized by NCMEC as the “Lil Charlie" series and at least one additional child who is still unidentified.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of ICE-HSI and the South Florida ICAC. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Corey Steinberg and Francis Viamontes.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
