AndrewBlakeMiami, FL – A father worried about disturbing social media posts his son had made about guns gave police his son’s smartphones and they found child porn on them, police say.
Sean Mesa, 18, faced charges of possessing child pornography and improper display of a firearm, the Miami Herald reported. He was jailed Friday.
The U.S. Homeland Security Investigations’ Violent Gang Task Force took interest in Mesa after they saw him posing with guns in photos that were posted on Instagram and Snapchat. Mesa was “recklessly displaying firearms and pointing them at the camera,” according to the arrest warrant.
Miami-Dade Schools Detective John Messenger went to Mesa’s high school Feb. 20 to talk to him about Mesa’s fascination with guns.
Mesa told the police officer “he likes guns and it was his right to post on social media whatever he wished,” the Miami Herald reported.
Mesa’s father was concerned about the social media posts involving weapons and gave police his son’s two phones.
The U.S. Secret Service looked at the phones and found a video of what they say appeared to be a child under age 10 being sexually abused, according to the warrant.
The video had been sent to two others in a group chat, the Miami Herald reported.
After his interview with police, Mesa posted on Snapchat another post that showed a pistol on his lap with the words, “now they watching so I ain’t stopping.”
“The latest Snapchat photos have students and staff at Dr. Michael Krop Senior High alarmed and afraid,” according to the warrant.
Police have responded to a flood of threatening online posts after the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Florida where Nikolas Cruz murdered 17 people and wounded 15 people.