TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

State Clears Way For Feds In Child Sex Photos Case

ADVERTISEMENT

TBO.com

Published: November 24, 2008

TAMPA - State prosecutors dropped charges today against a Valrico man accused of taking sexually explicit pictures of a teenage girl. The action clears the way for federal officials to pursue the case.

Deputies arrested Robert Dale Paige, 36, of 261 Hermitage Hill Way, in September, charging him with three counts of making a child sexually perform.

Federal officials arrested him on Nov. 11 on federal charges stemming from the incident. He is free on $50,000.

The girl, an acquaintance of Paige's, ran up a $2,000 cell phone bill, and Paige told her he would sell the pictures on the Internet to help her pay the bill, deputies said.

Detectives were notified of the situation by a crisis center, where the girl had shown up as a runaway.

An affidavit in the federal case said agents discovered 34 photos of the girl in various stages of undress and completely naked on the hard drives of computers seized at Paige's home. They said 14 violated federal law. Paige faces a 15-year minimum mandatory sentence on the federal charges.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT