Postal Worker Charged in Child Porn Case

SARASOTA, FL — A 53-year-old Sarasota man faces 40 child pornography-related felony charges after deputies conducted an investigation into his online activities.

According to the sheriff’s office, its Detectives Investigating Internet Crimes Against Children unit tracked a particular internet protocol (IP) address to the downloading of 167 files that had been previously identified as containing child pornography. Detectives traced that IP address to a man living in the 3000 block of Cheshire Square.

A search warrant was issued for the apartment. That warrant was served at the home of Curtis J. Esmond around 8 a.m. Wednesday. Once inside Esmond’s home, deputies found children’s toys hanging from the living room walls, an arrest report said. Esmond’s apartment, the report noted, “did not have a place for a second person to reside.”

Detectives also found a notebook in the bedroom that “contained notes ‘kiddy sex,’ ‘kiddy pedo,’ ‘mylola,’ and ‘LSM,’ which are all known search terms for child pornography,” the arrest report said. A search of a laptop computer found in the apartment turned up 35 images that depicted child pornography, the report said. Thirty “of them depicted sexual battery or bondage.”

Esmond told detectives he worked the night shift for the U.S. Postal Service. He was ultimately charged with 40 counts of possession: sexual performance by a child. Esmond was booked into the Sarasota County Jail.

The investigation remains active with additional charges pending.

No further information is available at this time.

Booking photo courtesy of the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office