A Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy was arrested Thursday on multiple charges of child pornography.
Deputy Adam W. Godbey is currently on paid administrative leave due to an ongoing investigation, according to a PBSO spokesperson.
According to an arrest report, detectives found more than 30 images and videos of child pornography on a cellphone and laptop inside his home. The report says the electronics were hidden on top of a kitchen cabinet.
During a Friday morning court hearing, a judge ordered Godbey to undergo a mental health evaluation and return to a judge Wednesday. Godbey cannot contact anyone under 18-years-old by phone while in jail.
Godbey was hired by PBSO on June 27, 2013.
Godbey was on a witness list in the federal trial accusing PBSO Sgt. Michael Custer of shooting Seth Adams. Godbey never testified, however.
Godbey was assigned to supervise the inside of the truck near where Seth Adams collapsed while the crime scene was processed by officials, according to court records.
The case ended in a mistrial.
Gobey was recognized by PBSO in a press release for rescuing a kitten from under a car in on May 1, 2015.
On May 29, an electronic service provider reported that child pornography had been uploaded to their site.
Child Rescue Coalition works with law enforcement to track those images. Once officials have identified an image as child porn, it gets a unique number.
“Think of it like a barcode on a product,” said William Wiltse, president at Child Rescue Coalition.
Every time that image is being up- or downloaded investigators can see which IP address it’s coming from, leading them straight to their suspects.
“All these dots on the map are basically computers that are online right now, confessing to a crime,” Wiltse said. “I mean it’s really a pandemic issue.”
Wiltse said there are hundreds of users in Palm Beach County using child pornography on their computers.
“We probably already know about you and you will be caught,” Wiltse said.
Worldwide, the Coalition monitors about 1,750 documents every second.
Although they’re able to find the suspects, Wiltse said they simply don’t have the resources to go after all of them.
“There wouldn’t enough prosecutors, there wouldn’t be enough courtrooms and there certainly wouldn’t be enough jail beds,” Wiltse said.
