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Police Briefs 9/24/20

Clay County Sheriff's Office
Posted 9/23/20

JACKSONVILLE – U.S. Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez announced the return of an indictment charging Kurt Batucan Sheldon, 29, of Interlachen, on Sept. 17 with one count of production of child …

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Police Briefs 9/24/20


Posted

CCSO helps bring indictment against Putnam man for child porn

JACKSONVILLE – U.S. Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez announced the return of an indictment charging Kurt Batucan Sheldon, 29, of Interlachen, on Sept. 17 with one count of production of child exploitation material and two counts of distribution of child exploitation material.
If convicted, Sheldon, a former Putnam County library employee, faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years, and up to 30 years, in federal prison for the production count and a minimum mandatory penalty of five years, and up to 20 years, on each distribution count. In a previous detention hearing, held on Sept. 14, the court ordered Sheldon detained pending further proceedings.
According to the indictment, Sheldon produced child exploitation material on May 3 and distributed child exploitation material on May 24 and May 26.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
According to the complaint, parents of a minor child made a report to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office about sexually explicit messages being sent by an adult to their daughter on Snapchat and Whisper. The adult referred to himself as “K t.” “K t” was his screen name on Snapchat, but his Snapchat username was “tacticfallout,” according to justice.gov.
“K t” originally began communicating with the child on Whisper and represented himself as a male, between the ages of 25-29. The child told him that she was 15 years old. “K t” told the child that his name was “Kurt” and that he lived in Putnam. The child told “Kurt” she lived with her parents and was in school. Their conversation later moved to Snapchat and “K t” requested child exploitation material – images and videos – from the child and directed the child on how to take the images and how to pose. Approximately 50 images and/or videos were sent to “K t” at his direction.
Homeland Security and Putnam County Sheriff’s Office deputies executed a search warrant at Sheldon’s home on Sept. 4. According to the arrest report, Sheldon admitted to having child pornography on his computer.
“Unfortunately, this case highlights the extreme dangers for children and social media applications,” said Homeland Security Jacksonville Assistant Special Agent in Charge K. Jim Phillips. “Because of alert parents, and outstanding teamwork with Clay and Putnam Counties Sherriff’s Offices, this predator is no longer able to sexually exploit children.”
Any person who was, or knows of someone who may have been, a possible child victim is urged to contact HSI at 1-866-DHS-2ICE or online via http://www.ice.gov/webform/hsi-tip-form.
The case was investigated by the Clay County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations. It will be prosecuted by Asst. U.S. Attorneys Ashley Washington and Kelly Karase.
It is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Trump supporter charged with striking girl with flagpole

ORANGE PARK – A man was arrested for poking a flagpole at a girl’s face during a pro-Donald Trump rally on Sept. 16.
Norbert Eugene Logsdon Jr., 67, of Orange Park, was charged with child abuse without great bodily harm.
According to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Logsdon was part of a rally on the Loch Rane and Blanding boulevards when the girl and her mother stopped at a traffic light. The victim’s mother said Logsdon was making obscene gestures toward cars who didn’t support Trump, so they made the same gesture in return.
That’s when Logsdon stuck the pole with the Trump flag inside the car, striking a 13-year-old girl in the right side of her head.

K-9 catches wanted man who threatened to shoot police

KEYSTONE HEIGHTS – The Clay County Sheriff’s Office used a K-9 officer to run down a wanted man who made threats to shoot police if he was cornered.
Daniel James Spivey, 31, of Keystone Heights, was charged on Sept. 20 with seven counts of possessing ammo and one count of possessing a firearm by a convicted felon, attempting to elude the police, resisting arrest and driving with a suspended license.
Deputies responded to a tip that Spivey was on Spring Lake Village Drive. The informant also told deputies Spivey was armed and threated to shoot police if they tried to arrest him.
When they attempted to serve an outstanding warrant, Spivey ran into a wood line. K-9 Chuck tracked him down inside the Vulcan sand mill property.
CCSO said Spivey dropped a pistol during the foot chase. They recovered a handgun that had five bullets in the magazine and one in the chamber.
Another pistol was recovered from his pants pocket, according to the arrest report.

Man accused of stealing Humane Society trailer returned to Clay

MIDDLEBURG – A 23-year-old man was tracked to Chatham County, Georgia, and brought back to face charges of stealing a trailer from the Clay County Humane Society.
Austin Daniel Cox of Middleburg, was charged with stealing a pickup truck on May 29 from Stern Contracting, and then hooking that truck to a portable trailer used as a mobile veterinary unit at the Humane Society later that night.
The owner of the truck used in the Humane Society theft recognized his vehicle on a Facebook post eliciting help by showing video of the burglary.
The trailer eventually was recovered in Gainesville on June 2 and Cox was identified as a possible suspect after a citizen provided the Clay County Sheriff’s Office a tip.
Cox was arrested and charged on June 4 in Georgia with theft by receiving stolen property, possession tools for the commission of a crime and providing a false name or identification to the police.
Clay County deputies also have charged Cox with stealing two other trucks and a motorcycle.

Nursing assistant arrested for striking patient

FLEMING ISLAND – A nursing assistant was arrested for striking an elderly patient at Isle Healthcare.
Karyn Dawn Teemley, 20, of Keystone Heights, was charged on Sept. 18 with abuse of an elderly or disabled person after the health and rehabilitation center reported the incident.

Police chase down man wanted for armed robbery

KEYSTONE HEIGHTS – A man was arrested for armed robbery following a brief foot chase on Sept. 17.
Allen Tereal Grimes, 29, of Keystone Heights, was charged with armed robbery and resisting arrest. He was at the Clay County Jail with a $100,005 bond.
An arrest warrant was signed on Sept. 2. The arrest report didn’t contain any information about the robbery.

CCSO employee fired after exchanging child porn

GREEN COVE SPRINGS – A civilian working at the Clay County Sheriff’s Office was fired Sept. 18 after she was arrested for sharing pornography with a 17-year-old boy.
Monica Mae Green, 45, was charged by the Green Cove Springs Police Department with possession of child pornography, as well a transmitting harmful material to a child and tampering with evidence.
The investigation started when a friend of Green told supervisors at the Clay County Jail of an inappropriate relationship between Green and the boy.
According to CCSO, Green worked in the Communications Section since 2015.

Man, 39, charged with having drunken sex with 17-year-old

MIDDLEBURG – A 39-year-old man was arrested on Sept. 19 for having sex with a 17-year-old fast food co-worker after the girl’s father found messages on her cellphone that eluded to the encounter in a grocery parking lot.
Chaz Michael Rosson, of Middleburg, was charged with carnal intercourse with an unmarried girl.
According to the arrest report, the couple had sex in her pickup truck on Aug. 11. After they closed the restaurant, they drank alcohol in her truck, according to the arrest report. Rosson told deputies he and the girl drank a “fifth of vodka.” He also said he doesn’t remember having sex.
Rosson’s bond was set at $75,003.