TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd on Thursday announced the arrests of eight men charged with allegedly possessing thousands of images of child pornography.
“My detectives have to see the video clips of the children in pain and fear and agony because of evil monsters that are creating the child porn,” said Judd.
Among those arrested was David Sparks, 66, of Lakeland.
“He’s retired, he was in customer service and he’s married. He’s charged with 350 counts of child porn,” said Judd who described Sparks as a man who looks like a grandfather.
Also under arrest Stefan Young of Lakeland, a self-described, self-employed boudoir photographer who is accused of taking nude images of children.
“He claimed that he had taken photographs of children as young as 13, not only in their lace and silk underwear, but sometimes totally nude,” said Judd who added that Young had given the undercover investigators a unique warning.
“He told the undercover, another Grady ‘Juddism,’ he said, ‘Don’t talk to Grady Judd. If you do I’ll go to jail’,” Judd said. “He was right, he’s in jail.”
“He justified this as art. It’s not art when you are taking nude pictures of children, it’s not art when you are in possession of child porn,” Judd added.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant on Young’s home in Lakeland and found lewd images of a child under the age of 9.
The sheriff believes there may be other local victims of Young out there, adding that if parents gave Young permission to take nude images of their children, they could face criminal charges as well.