Florida man busted sending child porn images, videos and threats to middle schoolers via Snapchat
Snapchat is a mobile messaging application used to share photos, videos and text messages with those in your Snapchat network. Recently, Coltin Rylie Plummer, 27, of Jupiter, Florida, lurked in the dark recesses of his Palm Beach County home and trolled the app, looking for young boys and girls to friend.
When several unsuspecting middle schoolers accepted Plummer’s Snapchat friend requests, Plummer, who used fake profiles and screen names, immediately started sending victims vulgar and illicit messages, photos and video. Many of those images and videos included child pornography depicting children being sexually abused.
He didn’t stop there. Plummer threatened to locate and sexually batter some of his victims, using GPS screen shots of the end user’s location. Stuart Middle School in Martin County, Florida, was one on the institutions targeted by Plummer. Middle schoolers in South Carolina were also targeted.
To their credit, Plummer’s young Martin County victims informed their School Resource Officer and their parents regarding the threatening and abusive messages received from “johnnyreeve2020”. When the Martin County Sheriff’s Office received the initial complaints earlier in February, Special Victims Detective Brian Broughton, who is also part of the FBI task Force, went to work immediately hoping to forensically track “johnnyreeve2020”.
Detective Broughton didn’t have to go far. In fact, Plummer’s cyber tracks lead to a home on 188th Trail in Jupiter. That is where Detective Broughton along with federal investigators served a warrant looking for “jonnyreeve2020”.
Tech expert Craig Agranoff says some users seem to forget about Snap Map, a feature that if it’s turned on, can pinpoint your location. “You can simply press the ghost button on the app, it allows you to choose three hours, 24 hours or permanently,” he said. His advice is to opt out permanently using the ghost feature.
Authorities tracked one of Plummer’s fake Snapchat accounts to a home in Jupiter where he was arrested and taken into federal custody. “Both Snapchat and local law enforcement have a way to track your IP address, which is basically the address where you are accessing the internet,” Agranoff said. ~ WTVX
Plummer was taken into federal custody and charged with distribution of child pornography. He faces a multitude of additional charges as detectives suspect more victims may come forward.
Following his arrest, Plummer stood before a federal judge on February 18. WPBF quoted Sheriff William Snyder of the Martin County Sheriff’s Office as saying, “My message to all parents that have young children that have cellphones is that the boogeyman is real and he actually lives in your child’s cellphone.”
When MCSO learned of these vile images and threats to our local children, we immediately issued a warning to all parents to monitor their children’s cell phone activity, especially those who use Snap Chat, while we worked diligently to track this suspect. We would like to thank parents and everyone who helped us get this warning out. ~ Martin County Sheriff’s Office
Plummer will be facing his federal charges at a preliminary hearing scheduled for March 3.
For more on the story, see the video accompanying this article.
(Source: MCSO)
Posted by: Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Follow Richard on Facebook and Twitter
