20 Counts Of Possessing Child Porn Land Palm River Man In Jail

PALM HARBOR, FL — Pinellas County sheriff's detectives have arrested a Palm Harbor man accused of possessing and transmitting child pornography.

Detectives began an investigation after receiving a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that child pornography was being transmitted via the internet from the Palm Harbor area, according to the sheriff's office.

Detectives were able to trace the source of the transmissions to 39-year-old John Serrantino of Aster Drive, the sheriff's office said. Detectives continued their investigation over several months and found several files of child pornography on Serrantino's cell phone. Detectives said the images were of children between the ages of 3 and 14 years old.

On Tuesday, detectives arrested Serrantino and charged him with 20 counts of possession of child pornography and one count of transmission of child pornography. When detectives interviewed Serrantino, he denied viewing the child pornographic images.