Man arrested for child porn in Cape Coral tried to surrender 4 years ago

Some parents in Cape Coral had tough conversations Wednesday with their children after a man in their neighborhood was arrested for child porn.

Tuesday, Cape Coral Police Department arrested Richard Altmayer, 47, after they say he emailed more than a dozen images of child porn to himself.

“In many ways, they don’t see themselves as criminals because they often lead a normal lifestyle, have a house, pay their bills, have a family,” said Rich Kolko, WINK News Safety & Security Specialist. “But in reality, what they’re doing is hurting a lot of people.”

We also learned suspect Altmayer tried to surrender to police four years ago after taking pictures of children. At the time, someone convinced Altmayer to confess to driving by schools, taking pictures of children and touching himself.

But the report shows Altmayer deleted pictures and accounts that could have landed hum behind bars.

Families at the park, less than one mile from where Altmayer lives, said the child porn arrest is exactly why they talk with their kids.

“If it doesn’t feel right, then, it isn’t right,” John Gray said. “And they need to call attention and be able to talk to us.”

Gray says he knows someone who suffered abuse. He says it’s better to have the uncomfortable conversations than before an arrest such as Altmayer’s occurs.

“Those consequences are very traumatic,” Gray said. “You know, what ends us happening to these children, you know, are life altering.”

We don’t know which schools Altmayer admitted to targeting, but on his street, neighbors say the arrest is a shock.

“I was quite surprised, just that it was out back of my home,” Rich Noah said. “And yeah, this is a quiet neighborhood.”

We asked CCPD for the report from 2016. They’re reviewing the documents and say the initial report is now in discovery. The state attorney’s office said they don’t have any records from the incident from four years ago.

Families nearby hope this is a wakeup call for parents to talk with their kids about what to look out for and how to report something that doesn’t seem right.

“You do have to call attention to it,” Gray said. “If you just hide it under the rug, they aren’t protected.”

Altmayer is in custody at Lee County Jail without set bond.

Correction: We previously reported someone other than Richard Altmayer deleted obscene content four years ago when he tried to turn himself into police, but the report shows Atlmayer, himself, deleted the content, no one else.