Gibsonton man allegedly tweeted child porn to local TV anchor
Photo courtesy Polk County Sheriff's Office
BARTOW (FOX 13) - A Gibsonton man was indicted after tweeting child porn images to a local news anchor, deputies said, and there could be more victims.
Marchaun Browning was federally indicted and charged with distribution and possession of child pornography. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd announced a press conference on Tuesday afternoon to discuss further details surrounding the case.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said during a Tuesday press conference that detectives began their investigation in June. The Sheriff’s Office heads the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force for the region.
In the first incident, the victim, a Bay News 9 news anchor whose identity was not released, blocked the Twitter account after being tagged in child porn images. However, Browning continued to tweet her child porn images using four fictitious accounts, according to a media release.
At one point, the suspect followed and tweeted the images to a local television station, officials said.
Investigators discovered the IP address came back to one Gibsonton home address, and notified the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Detectives said they issued a search warrant at Browning’s home, where 163 child porn images were found on his electronic devices. A warrant was also issued for his Twitter accounts, in which Twitter complied with, and 35 images were found between all four accounts.
The findings were brought to a federal grand jury which returned an indictment on August 16. He was taken into custody on August 18, but has since bonded out. Browning is facing similar charges in Virginia.
"Normal folks don't do this. There are some mental issues for everyone who engages in being a child predator or a child pornographer," Grady said during the press conference. "The bottom line is this ... you are not going to victimize these children."
He added that Browning was seeking attention.
"It also tells you that his person may be dangerous. Certainly, he has thrown caution to the wind when you send child porn to a high-profile person. You know law enforcement is going to be involved," Grady said.
Detectives said they want other victims to contact the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
"Our concern is, who else has he sent these pictures to? And where are these children?" Grady said. "We think there are possibly more victims in the community."