Naples man faces child-porn charges in Miami after sending girl sexually explicit photos
A year ago, a Naples man started sharing sexually graphic images with a Miami girl over the Internet, authorities say.
First, he sent the 13year-old girl a photo of a penis, they say. She responded with nude pictures and videos of herself, including some that showed her face.
When she told the man that she would not send him any more images of herself, authorities say he threatened her: “No ... you belong to me.”
Jeffrey Keith Holcombe, 49, is now in custody in Fort Myers awaiting transfer to Miami, where he has been accused of coercing the girl into taking and sharing sexually explicit photos and videos of herself with him. It’s the latest of dozens of
Internet child-porn cases
that have been filed during the coronavirus pandemic, which has ignited an explosion of such crimes, according to federal prosecutors in South Florida.
Holcombe’s criminal case in Miami has not
been unsealed. A criminal complaint charges him with producing and attempting to produce child pornography and with transferring obscene material to a minor, prosecutors say.
He has a bond hearing
scheduled for Thursday in Fort Myers federal court, where Assistant U.S. Attorney Trenton Reichling is expected to recommend that the defendant be detained before trial.
Holcombe’s defense lawyer in Fort Myers,
Assistant Federal Public Defender Russell Rosenthal, declined to comment Wednesday.
According to published reports, Holcombe worked for a Naples car dealership but has been fired. He is also the father of two children.
Neighbors who live near Holcombe expressed concern after his arrest over the weekend. They said that while their community is an older population, children are always in the area.
“I don’t know why anyone would be doing something like that,”
Chris Desalvo told WINKTV. “I’m going to have a great-grandchild soon and it scares the hell out of me that there would be someone like that close.”
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Holcombe met the Miami girl on an Internet-based social media application in March of last year. After initially exchanging sexually graphic images, the girl said she wanted to stop — then Holcombe threatened her, prosecutors said.
“If she did not continue to send sexually explicit images to him, he would sell those he already had of her online, make posters of her images and post them around the neighborhood where she lived, and would find her and her family,” according to a news release issued by the U.S Attorney’s Office in Miami.
The girl’s family contacted authorities, which led to Holcombe’s arrest by FBI agents on Saturday. The case, brought as part of the Justice Department’s Project Safe Childhood initiative, is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Dayron Silverio.