Update: Mario Arter on May 4 pleaded guilty to 10 counts of possession of sexual performance by a child, each a second-degree felony. He will be sentenced to three years and six months in state prison followed by 11 years of sex-offender probation and a lifetime designation as a sex offender. He is to be sentenced on June 8 at 10 a.m., and will remain free on bond until then. He had faced up to 15 years in prison on each charge, and a maximum of 150 years in prison, collectively. He appeared in court in person on May 4, and tendered his plea to Circuit Judge Terence Perkins. He was represented by attorney Josh Davis.
Mario Arnez Arter, a 46-year-old resident of 25 Cold Spring Court in Palm Coast, was booked at the Flagler County jail Saturday (May 9) on 30 counts of possession of child sexual abuse imagery after some 500 such items were found on his tablet, following a nearly five-month investigation. He is being held on $100,000 bond.
The arrest results from the work of Flagler County Sheriff’s detective Dennis Lashbrook, assigned last year by Sheriff Rick Staly to ramp up a full-time cybercrimes unit. The investigation reveals the extent to which law enforcement and at least some online platforms and internet service providers are cooperating with police to tip off, track down and facilitate investigations of individuals involved in child exploitation or abuse. Last year alone 70 million such images or videos were reported to authorities, according to an extensive New York Times investigation. The numbers are considered a fraction of the online epidemic.
Arter’s arrest takes place three days after a bill was introduced in Congress proposing to spend $5 billion over 10 years to fight online child sexual abuse.
Lashbrook got the “CyberTip” about Arter from Google the morning of Dec. 31. Someone using a Google account and associated with a certain Gmail address that was part of the tip had uploaded three images suspected of containing child sexual abuse and exploitation (commonly referred to as child pornography).
All three images showed naked prepubescent girls, two of them between the ages of 9 and 11, one of them between the ages of 7 and 9. Two of the three images showed adult males engaged in explicit abuse of the girls.
Google provided Lashbrook with the name of the individual associated with its email address, as well as a Hotmail address: Arter, who Lashbrook found to be connected to 25 Cold Spring Court in Palm Coast. The tip included several IP addresses used in logins through Verizon and Spectrum, both of whose records Lashbrook subpoenaed in connection with Arter and his reported address (which was not his alone: a woman lives there as well). The results of the subpoenas, which were based on time stamps of when images were uploaded, narrowed the investigation to Arter alone.
On March 6, Circuit Judge Raul Zambrano signed a search warrant enabling Lashbrook to search Arter’s Gmail account through Google’s Legal Investigations Support division, which also signed a certificate of authenticity regarding the materials accessed. “After reviewing the downloaded information, I discovered the original pictures supplied by Google in the original CyberTip,” Lashbrook reported in his investigation, “however there was not additional child pornography images or videos within his Google account.”
Lashbrook followed up with a search warrant, served at Arter’s house the afternoon of April 7. He was joined by Volusia sheriff’s detectives who work with the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Arter’s fiancee answered the door. She and Arter were read their Miranda warnings as they sat at the kitchen table before Lashbrook interviewed Arter separately, in a patrol car, where Arter acknowledged looking at the images and emailing them to himself. “That’s where I really screwed up,” he told the detective. He said he thought the girls were 13.
Arter said he’d been looking at images of child sexual abuse for a year and that it was a problem, “possibly due to the fact that he was raped by his cousin when he was in the second grade,” he told the detective. Arter said his fiancee was not involved in any of it, nor had access to his devices.
The search produced seven electronic devices of various sorts that were seized and later analyzed forensically in Volusia. The analysis produced three videos and 495 images of child sexual abuse, including the original three images–all of them on a tablet. Lashbrook documented just 30 items over five pages of single-spaced descriptions of prepubescent children as young as 3 being raped and abused by adults.
The possession of an image of child sexual abuse is a third-degree felony. When possession of even a single item meets any one of five conditions, such as if the child depicted is 5 or younger, if the child is being raped or if the item is a movie, the charge is upgraded to a second-degree felony. The charges would also be upgraded if the material seized amounts to 10 items or more. Arter had hundreds, according to the arrest report. Just 30 were detailed in the investigation. He was charged on those 30. A sheriff’s release notes the counts were reclassified as second-degree felonies, though for now Arter’s court file lists them as third-degree felonies. The State Attorney’s office has not yet followed up on the charges.
On Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, the Oregon Democrat, and Rep. Anna Eshoo, the California Democrat, jointly introduced the Invest in Child Safety Act to add 200 federal law enforcement positions devoted to investigating child exploitation. The bill calls for the creation of a White House position that would be confirmed by the Senate to oversee the spending. The bill is a direct result of last year’s Times investigation, which found law enforcement efforts severely underfunded and overwhelmed by the incidence of child sexual abuse online, while online platforms were doing little to battle the problem. The proposed bill gives government added enforcement tools.
“The best way to go is to give public servants — prosecutors, investigators and preventive services — dollars and hold them accountable,” Wyden told The Times. “That is much better than basically saying you want to unleash a bunch of civil lawsuits that take years.”
In March, Sens. Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican, and Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut Democrat, introduced a different bill, also as a result of the Times investigation, focused on tech companies. That bill would remove legal protections from companies that fail to police content of child sexual exploitation.
Kris says
This was so hard to even read… goodness gracious the title should read: A Monster Among Us.
Every picture represents a victim, a broken child who turns into a broken adult and then repeat!
Much, much respect to this detective and every detective in this field – I can’t even fathom how hard their job is every single day.
PAM BIANCO says
God Bless you Detective Lashbrook!
Brian Ford says
Unfortunately, some of the NY Times reporting is behind a paywall (a NY Times account is required). That’s too bad because this was truly great reporting about an incredibly important problem.
The original NY Times article is located at: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/09/28/us/child-sex-abuse.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article
There is a follow up NY Times article about the proposed legislation here: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/05/us/child-abuse-legislation.html
Many thanks to Flagler County Sheriff’s Detective Lashbrook for his service to the people of Flagler County. Investigating computer crime is difficult, but investigating and prosecuting Child Sexual Abuse has to be some of the most difficult and soul crushing work in law enforcement today.
Hmmm says
I would much rather read about capturing the people who make these videos and pictures. I never understood how its so easy to track down the people looking at it, but not where it originated from.
Me says
What disturbs me about this article, where are these poor young children? How can law enforcement find them? This scum bag needs to have the book thrown at him. And is excuse was he was abused as a child. Well, his parents should have gotten him professional help back then but obviously didn’t and probably didn’t even report it to authorities. Once, again my concern are where are these young children?
Horrified says
He should never ever get out not even on Bail Because he is just going to keep on doing it or even worse. PLEASE NEVER LET HIM OUT
Jessica Hennessy says
I knew Mario Arter personally. And he was a victim.
Shell says
Yes Mario was a victim, thank you for speaking up. Mario suffered with many demons during his life but could never find the help and healing he needed. We met in 1995, we married July 10, 2004 at our home in Kansas City, Kansas. We divorced in 2012 and grew apart but remained friends. He stepped up to be a Father of my daughter when she was 4 years old. You don’t find many men today that is willing to take on that kind of responsibility. He was always there for her and me no matter what until the end of his life. We just walked our daughter down the aisle together on Feb 21, 2021. It was a beautiful time I will never forget. It makes me angry how people on here make comments like they are Godly Saints and do no wrong, but they are not. Every person has some sort of demon they are dealing with in their life and people need to just shut the fuck up with their “He’s A Monster” comments. This man was NO MONSTER, He never abused or laid his hands on anyone in the 26 years that I knew him. I often wonder why Google and the FBI allows this type of material to be put on the internet. Why is it never taken down? One never hears of the law going after the people that actually puts this kind of material on the internet and the ones that are actually abusing kids. The ones that are making and creating this kind of material nothing is ever done to them, they are never seeked out and arrested, think about that. This is a set up to destroy ones life and to get paid, there was NO child victim here being abused, its lousy photos that Google plants for people to click on and then Google sends that clicked information to law enforcement. It’s all a set up to encourage and entice one to click on it. Rest In Peace Mario, he no longer has to suffer and fight demons in this fucked up World.
Brent Scott says
Mario was a friend of mine. We met at technical school in Daytona Beach in 2000. We had been in communication until before his passing. He told me of the case against him but wasn’t taking responsibility for the situation at that time. It was in my plans to visit him in Florida and go fishing. When I finished technical school at the end of 2000 he packed the truck I had rented to move to my new job in California. I had no idea of these issues for Mario.
This news lands much differently if it’s someone you know, especially if there is a history of kindness and friendship. Mario was one of three people I had made an effort over the years to stay in touch with. I mourn his loss. I agree with you that it is a travesty that law enforcement targets the wrong people. I wish Mario could have sought help with this issue for him. I wish he did the time and made a good life afterward. I would have supported him through that time, but he would never know that. He deserved a happy life.
Mashell Holt says
Thank you Brent for your kind words. This is Mashell, I was Mario’s wife, we married in 2004 after moving to Kansas City, KS. I remember you and your wife would invite us over for dinner when you lived in Florida. Mario really thought a lot of you as well, he always talked about you. No one really knew of these issues and demons Mario was fighting, but his Mom, Dad, brother and myself. His family did not think porn was a problem and said every one looks at porn and they turned against me thinking I was just being jealous and trying to control his life. Ummm no. Mario and I tried to get help for his porn addiction for a long time and I did not know about it until a few years after we married. I thought it was adult porn he was looking at, the magazines I would find hidden would always say models are 18 or over, legal adults. But, I never knew he was looking at under aged people on the internet until he was arrested in 2020, that’s when Google set him up and reported him to police for clicking on their links. Mario would try to get help, but it never did any good. We seen many different counselors but none of them was making a difference. None of them helped or seemed to even care. This demonizing addiction caused Mario to attempt suicide 3 times before during our marriage. I was always there to intervein. I could never understand the addiction, but I done everything in my power to help him, but unfortunatly that caused us to divorce in 2012. We remained the best of friends and when I spoke to him before his court date, he just said, my life is over. I begged him not to try and take his life again, I was over flowing with tears, and you could hear a pin drop, he went silent. He wasn’t talking right and didn’t want to hear what anybody had to say. He would just keep saying calmly, my life is over. He told me what an honor it was to know me, to be once married to me and it was an honor for him to raise my/our daughter and to be able to walk her down the aisle to get married. He apologized over and over for the pain he has caused us as tears rolled down his cheeks. I told him he has people here that loves and needs him and I told him I would stand by him and still help any way I could to beat this, no matter what. I tried to encourage him to keep trying to get help and not to keep giving up. He said no, they will kill me in the Florida State prison. He said, they will have me as a registered sex offender for life and I never even thought about touching a under aged person in my life. He said, I only looked at photos on the internet that Google lets people post, but they are labeling me like I did it. He had over $200,000 in fines, 3 years of prison time and had to register as a sex offender for life and 10 years probation. My heart still hurts to this day. A drug attic can get help, hell they can even to go centers now to shoot up their drugs freely and they are offered free help if they want it. Why can’t the people selling the drugs get help instead of just jail time and a label? Why can’t people with porn addictions, sex addictions, alcohol addiction, drug dealers etc. get the right help they need? If jails would offer people the help they need and make them get the help they need while they are locked up, I believe it would help many people from committing to suicide. Anyhow, I just wanted to reach out Brent and say thank you for being Mario’s friend. There is not a day that goes by that Mario is not in my thoughts. We shared many happy years together, and he is so missed. The only thing that is a “Monster” is when the World Wide Web began. The Internet and Google and Social Media is the biggest life controlling “Monsters” I have ever seen in my life. My hope is, some day, many people will wake up and see that. Take care Brent, good to read your comments. Be blessed my friend. Mashell Holt, formerly Arter.