Downloaded images allegedly include a girl performing a sex act on a dog
EDGEWATER, Fla. -- A local man is in custody in Georgia, facing 30 counts of child pornography, after the Volusia County Sheriff's Office received a tip earlier this year the 53-year-old Edgewater man had been downloading images of young children engaged in sexual situations, including a girl performing a sex act on a dog, an agency spokesman said.
Ordinarily a third-degree felony, the charges against Daniel Cravener were elevated to second-degree felonies because some of the downloaded images found in his possession included victims believed to be as young as 5 years old, Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson stated in a press release earlier on this Saturday, which was emailed to Headline Surfer® and other Central Florida media outlets that provide daily breaking news coverage.
"The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office launched the investigation after receiving a tip in February about the downloading of child pornography, which led the agency’s Child Exploitation Unit to link an e-mail address that surfaced in the investigation to the 53-year-old Cravener," Davidson stated in the press release.
Ordinarily a third-degree felony, the charges against Daniel Cravener were elevated to second-degree felonies because some of the downloaded images found in his possession included victims believed to be as young as 5 years old, Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson (shown here at left) stated in a press release earlier on this Saturday, which was emailed to Headline Surfer® and other Central Florida media outlets that provide daily breaking news coverage.
"The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office launched the investigation after receiving a tip in February about the downloading of child pornography, which led the agency’s Child Exploitation Unit to link an e-mail address that surfaced in the investigation to the 53-year-old Cravener," Davidson stated in the press release.
Davidson continued in the release, "Investigators served a search warrant on Cravener’s Edgewater residence in April, seizing several computers, a thumb drive and memory stick, a cell phone and various CDs and DVDs. After analyzing the seized property, Sheriff’s investigators filed 30 counts of possession of sexual performance by a child against Cravener (DOB: 8/21/62).
"Several of the images contained victims believed to be between the ages of 5-8. One depicted a young girl, believed to be between the ages of 7-10, performing a sex act on a dog," Davidson added in the press release.
Investigators obtained an arrest warrant for Cravener on Friday from Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth Blackburn in DeLand. And with the aid of the US Department of Homeland Security, Cravener was picked up early on this Saturday morning in Georgia where he was being held in the Laurens County Jail on $450,000 bond, accrding to the VCSO press release.
Davidson did not respond to a request in writing from Headline Surfer® for a copy of the arrest or incident report leading to the apprehension of Cravener.
The senior spokesman for Sheriff Ben Johnson did not state in the press release whether Cravener had traveled to Georgia in an attempt to elude eventual arrest or if he was there for other reasons.