A Tampa online minister was arrested this afternoon and charged with 66 counts of possessing child pornography and two counts of intent to distribute.
Eric Spandorf, 43, is being held at a county jail with bail set at $525,000, jail records show.
Spandorf, of 1302 E. Columbus Drive, told investigators that he and his roommate were selling the discs with videos of child pornography to make money, said Laura McElroy, a Tampa police spokeswoman.
He confessed to downloading the child pornography and admitted it was wrong, McElroy said.
Investigators arrested Spandorf's roommate, Paul Robert Primavera, in January when Primavera tried to sell eight discs with videos containing child pornography to an undercover officer, McElroy said.
Primavera has been charged with 58 counts of possession of child pornography. Primavera, 54, is being held at a county jail with bail set at $60,000, records show.
When Primavera was arrested, there was enough probable cause to conduct a search warrant at the Columbus Drive home, McElroy said. During the investigation at the home, investigators found the discs belonging to Spandorf.
Online, Spandorf identifies himself as a reverend for Biblical Ministries of Tampa. On the organization's Web site, it states that he's an associate pastor and crisis counselor. Primavera told investigators that he's also a minister with the same organization, but his name and information don't appear on the Web site.
The Web site's biography says Spandorf was born in Brooklyn. He moved to Florida at age 24 and lived in Orlando for 12 years. He later moved to Kissimmee and then to Tampa.
"He turned to the church out of feeling despair and disappointment in life and he now is a teen counselor," according to the online biography.
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