Online tip leads to child sex abuse material on Florida deputy’s phone, cops say
A Florida sheriff’s deputy has been fired and arrested after he was accused of possessing and sharing child sexual abuse materials, authorities told news outlets.
The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office received an online tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children saying child sex abuse materials had been uploaded onto an “electronic service provider,” the sheriff’s office told WTLV.
Investigators tracked the materials to a Snapchat account where they had been stored and shared, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by WOFL.
The Snapchat account was associated with the personal information of a K9 unit deputy with the sheriff’s office, the affidavit said, as reported by WOFL.
The deputy was identified as Blake Gruny, who joined the sheriff’s department eight years ago, the sheriff’s office told WJXT.
The materials included videos of young children performing sexual acts, according to the affidavit, alone and with adults, WOFL reported.
Gruny was fired from the sheriff’s office on Oct. 13, WJXT reported, and charged with 13 felony counts.
They include six counts of possession of child sex abuse material, six counts of transmission of child sex abuse material and one count of unlawful use of a two-way communication device, the sheriff’s office told the outlet.
“Protecting children from exploitation is a priority for SJSO, and offenders will be held accountable regardless of occupation or status,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release obtained by WTLV. “This is an active investigation, and several items of evidentiary value are still being examined.”
St. Johns County is just south of Jacksonville along the St. Johns River to St. Augustine.
This story was originally published October 17, 2023 at 10:49 AM with the headline "Online tip leads to child sex abuse material on Florida deputy’s phone, cops say."
