Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced the arrest of a St. Cloud man on 80 counts of possession of Child Sex Abuse Materials (CSAM) through a press statement this week.
According to the attorney general, Adam Wahlgren, 52, was arrested in Lonoke, Arkansas, after the St. Cloud Police Department (SCPD) received a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that Wahlgren was allegedly possessing, viewing, and transmitting CSAM through Synchronoss, Verizon’s data storage service.
Orlando and Sanford Police initially received the tip and traced the IP address to the St. Cloud area, which led to SCPD's takeover of the investigation.
Wahlgren was arrested in Arkansas on May 1 after fleeing the state.
During their investigation, SCPD retrieved numerous electronic devices, including a tablet, several computers, nine USB drives, two external drives, two SD cards, and 28 hard drives with "extremely" graphic images and videos showing the sexual abuse of minors, including children physically bound, after executing a search warrant on Wahlgren's home.
100,000 files alone were uncovered on one device, according to investigators.
“This predator thought that he could escape the consequences of his depraved behavior by running to another state. He was wrong,” Uthmeier said. “In Florida, we will find you and bring you back to face our prosecutors in court.”
Wahlgren faces up to 1,200 years in prison if convicted. He is expected to be extradited to Florida to face the charges.
Uthmeier's announcement follows the arrest of a Sanford man for allegedly possessing CSAM in March. He also rearrested a Leesburg man for allegedly possessing child pornography, while sentencing a New Port Richey man for possession of Child Sex Abuse Materials that same month, this after arresting and convicting several more in February.
