LP Man Pleads Guilty To Child Porn Charges

A Lake Placid man is serving four years in state prison after pleading guilty to possessing child pornography.

Jonathan Robert Drake, 46, of 223 Boren Ave., entered his plea on Nov. 12 to 11 counts of possession of child pornography and one count of transmission of pornography by an electronic device or equipment, according to Assistant State Attorney Steve Houchin.

When he was first arrested on Feb. 25, Drake was charged with 107 counts of possession of child porn. The rest were dismissed in light of the guilty plea. In addition to the jail time, he was also sentenced to 10 years probation following his release.

On Nov. 13, 2007, the Highlands County Sheriff's Office received a package from the Law Enforcement Against Child Harm (L.E.A.C.H) Unit relating to Internet pornography that was reportedly happening in Lake Placid.

Included in the packet was a video of an adult male having sexual intercourse with an adolescent juvenile, according to the arrest report. It had been forwarded from Drake's residence via the Internet, but was intercepted by an Internet provider.

A search warrant was issued on Drake's home on Jan. 28. He was arrested and charged with felony possession of 79 grams of marijuana. Also retrieved from the residence were three compact discs.

Those discs contained 168 assorted movie and photo files, the report stated. Of those, 107 contained child pornography involving adolescent males engaged in various poses, sex acts and homosexual activities.

The FBI eventually contacted the HCSO on Feb. 20 and requested their help with an investigation involving Drake. Detectives provided the agents with evidence associated with the Highlands County warrant.

Drake was taken into custody again on the child porn charges Feb. 25.