BRISTOL, Va. – Someone in Bristol lifted a photograph of a naked young boy off the Internet in July, police said, then sent it to a online friend via e-mail.
Investigators tracked the activity to a home on Island Road, and on Wednesday arrested Darin Steele, who posted his $2,000 bond a half hour after he was booked.
Steele, 28, is charged with one count of production, financing or possession with intent to distribute sexually explicit items involving children, a class 5 felony.
Bristol Virginia Detective Sgt. Steve Crawford said investigators seized more than 300 CDs and several computers from Steele’s home for analysis. Depending on what they find on the disks and hard drives, additional possession charges could be pending.
At this point, police have only a screen name for the recipient but said they have no reason to suspect it is a local person, or that they are personally acquainted with Steele.
Crawford said the photo was pulled from an online forum, “something like MySpace for this behavior.”
The photo depicts a young boy, between 10 and 12 years old, fully nude and in a sexual position.
The transaction was flagged by a monitoring branch of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. It was sent to the Bedford County, Va., Sheriff’s Office, which operates Operation Blue Ridge Thunder, a task force that investigates Internet crimes involving children. There, they were able to find screen names, and translate those into real people with real addresses.
Steele lives at his mother’s house on Island Road. She answered the phone Wednesday but declined to comment on Steele’s behalf.
His hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Jan. 7 in Bristol Virginia General District Court.
cgalofaro@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2531
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