Brandon daycare worker arrested for child pornography

BRANDON (FOX 13) - A 25-year-old daycare worker was arrested on 20 counts of possession of child pornography and two counts of transmission of child pornography.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement says Justin Dwayne Cross worked at Child Care of Brandon, located in Brandon Town Center. Previously, he worked at another daycare, La Petite Academy, in Riverview.

"I rushed over here. I was at work when I got the message," said parent Alrea Hudson.

The investigation began after agents received tips that Cross was distributing images depicting child pornography. The investigation further showed that between September 2016 and January 2017, Cross shared images of child pornography in chat rooms and through different websites.

"My son was in the class with this person," said Hudson. "Yes, I am worried. I am going to be worried."

A worker at the school approached FOX 13 cameras during the reporting of this story.

"Nothing negative happened here," said the worker, who did not offer his name. "We have video cameras in every single classroom, everywhere, so we have nothing to report."

They sent a message to parents, alerting them of the arrest.

"Our parents know who we are. We are a family-run center. We follow all the rules. If one person as done something even though we have done all our background checks," the worker told us.

The Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, a national network of coordinated task forces, Homeland Security Investigations and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office worked together with FDLE in the investigation.

Because Cross had interaction with children, authorities are asking for anyone with additional information to come forward and call FDLE at 813-878-7300.  

He is being held on a $154,000 bond on the 22 charges.