Palm Coast, FL – The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) Cyber Crimes Unit began investigating a CyberTip from Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) on September 3, 2020. The tip identified an AOL account that uploaded twenty files containing child pornography. The investigation revealed the account belonged to 77-year-old Edgar Alloway.
A lengthy investigation led to a search warrant being executed on November 20, 2020, at 18 Banton Lane in Palm Coast, Alloway’s residence, by FCSO’s Cyber Crimes Detective Dennis Lashbrook, FCSO Crime Scene Investigators (CSI), members from Volusia County Sheriff’s Office (VCSO), and the North Florida ICAC Task Force. Several electronic devices were seized during the search and a forensic analysis of the devices was conducted. The results of the analysis found numerous images and videos of child pornography. Due to the nature of images recovered, the charge was reclassified from a third degree felony to a second degree felony under Florida State Statute.
On January 29, 2021, an arrest warrant was signed for Edgar Alloway for 12 counts of Possession of Images of the Sexual Performance by a Child.
FlaglerLive reported: Alloway waived his rights and agreed to speak. He said he “does not solicit images but does look at them.” He said he had about 25 to 30 images on an old phone, but that he’d stopped downloading images after doing so for about a year. He stopped when his account was shut down.
He had also taken the picture of four young children–two boys, two girls, clothed–outside the Funky Pelican, the restaurant in Flagler Beach. He told detectives that he had just met the family, which was visiting from New York, and that family members had asked him to take the picture and send it to them. But he could not locate their email address when detectives asked for it.
Alloway was arrested at his home and taken into custody. He was booked into the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility and released after posting a $120,000.00 bond.
“Detective Lashbrook of our Cybercrimes Unit did a great job in building a strong case,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “This type of disgusting behavior will not be tolerated in our community and is exactly why I started our Cyber Crimes/ICAC Unit. My warning to other perverts, you’re next! We also thank VCSO and the North Florida ICAC Task Force for their assistance with this case.”
