Florida Man Arrested For Child Porn While Trying To Adopt Child

A Florida man was arrested Thursday for several child pornography charges, as he was in the process of getting a child of his own to care for. Erik Deemer of Edgewater, Florida was booked on 11 counts of possession of child porn, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office. Notably, Deemer was going through the motions of adopting a child when he was arrested, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office posted a detailed report of the case on its Facebook page Friday morning.

Police investigated Deemer for some time after getting a tip into his alleged behavior. The investigation turned up several pieces of child porn belonging to Deemer, including children bound by rope and some older children dressed like babies, with diapers or pacifiers. None of the children in the photos have been identified, as the police continue to collect leads and figure out if any of the victims are local.

As one might expect, Deemer’s child adoptions process was put on pause after his arrest. He would not be legally barred from adoption until convicted, but adoption judges under Florida law have to consider each child’s best interests, in any case. Deemer was held on a $165,000 bond.

The Sentinel’s report came out shortly before another report by the paper of a man some 70 miles west who was sentenced to several decades in prison for producing child porn. Thomas Edward Abney, Jr. got a 40 year sentence after unknowingly sending an illicit video to an undercover agent and subsequently pleading guilty in court.