Sarasota Man Faces Child Porn Charges

A 45-year-old Sarasota man is facing child pornography charges after authorities received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that led to the man's arrest.

The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office arrested Robert Hering of 1636 Shelburne Lane in Sarasota for promotion and possession of child pornography, according to the probable cause affadavit.

Detectives received information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that an email sent through AOL contained child pornography, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Once the account holder’s Internet Protocol address was determined to be a Comcast customer in Sarasota County, detectives sent a subpoena to Comcast, which identified the account holder as Hering, the affadavit said.

Detectives obtained a search warrant for Hering’s residence, where they found at least 50 video and image files containing children involved in sexual conduct, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Hering is charged with one count of promotion of sexual performance by a child and 50 counts of possession of sexual performance by a child.

He was booked into the Sarasota County Jail Wednesday and is being held without bond.