Golden Gate man charged with 100 counts of possession of child porn

A Collier County Sheriff’s Office investigation has resulted in the arrest of a 21-year-old Golden Gate man who detectives said stored child pornography on his cell phone.

Luis Fernando Garcia-Perez was arrested Thursday and charged with 100 counts of possession of child pornography.

Garcia-Perez lives in Golden Gate. He faces one count of possession of child pornography with intent to promote after detectives found that he was engaged in discussions with other child predators online and trading files with them.

Following his arrest, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer was placed on Garcia-Perez through ICE’s 287(g) program. ICE lodges detainers on individuals arrested on criminal charges who ICE has probable cause to believe are removable aliens.

Once Garcia-Perez has satisfied his local criminal charges he will be released to ICE custody. The 287(g) program is a law enforcement tool and serves as a deterrent to criminal illegal aliens.

CCSO arrest reports gave this account of the events leading up to Garcia-Perez’s arrest:

On Jan. 9, detectives received a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding the transmission of a file believed to be child pornography.

Detectives viewed the file and found it to be a video depicting a sex act involving a child younger than 12. The file was transmitted by a user on Facebook.

Further investigation by detectives determined that the file was transmitted from inside Garcia-Perez’s residence. On Tuesday, detectives executed a search warrant at Garcia-Perez’s residence. The search turned up electronics, including a cell phone next to Garcia-Perez’s bed that was powered on.

A forensic analysis of the phone found video and image files that depicted children between the ages of 2 and 12 engaged in sexual conduct, some of them with adults.

Detectives returned to Garcia-Perez’s residence Thursday and placed him under arrest.