Sarasota County Man Sentenced To 15 Years For Child Porn

SARASOTA, FL — A Sarasota County man was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography.

Edward McManis of Venice, Florida was also sentenced by Circuit Court Judge Debra Riva to five years of sex offender probation under the terms of a plea agreement. The sentence was announced Tuesday by State Attorney Ed Brodsky.

"The detectives left no stone unturned in this investigation," observed Assistant State Attorney Kate Metz, who served as the lead prosecutor in the case. "Because of that investigation, one more sexual offender is off the streets of Sarasota County and now cannot exploit young children."

McManis was arrested on Valentine's Day 2018 by the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office following an investigation that turned up dozens of files containing child pornography.

The guilty plea was entered on Monday, the day that McManis' trial was to begin. Prosecutors said the offenses were committed between December of 2017 and February of 2018. McManis was represented by defense attorneys Andrea Mogensen and Lisa Chittaro.

"The defendant will also be designated a sexual offender and required to register as such for the remainder of his life," prosecutors said.

The sheriff's office began the investigation after they received videos of child pornography from an IP address traced back to McManis.

"A search warrant of the defendant's residence revealed the defendant was in possession of a laptop computer which was collected to be examined at the Sarasota Sheriffs Office," prosecutors said. "Investigators also learned that the defendant had a second laptop at his place of employment."

A digital forensic examination on both laptops turned up 40 videos containing "extremely graphic child pornography," according to prosecutors.