The Orange County Criminal Lawyer Blog
46-year-old Shawn Fitzgerald is a teacher at Lakeland High School for children with special needs. He also coaches the boys’ varsity soccer team at the school and works in Bartow at the First United Methodist Church as the director of youth services.
In February, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children shared information with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office concerning a video they reportedly found when searching through files uploaded to a messenger app.
When they looked into the claims, the authorities asserted that Fitzgerald was involved in the situation, and they were granted a search warrant to investigate deeper.
On November 19, Fitzgerald was ordered to turn over his phone to the Sheriff’s Office, and when searching the contents they allegedly found an app requiring a password that was designed to hide stored files.
Fitzgerald reportedly said that he used the app to conceal from his wife evidence of a sexual relationship he had. He allegedly said he did not recall the password.
The authorities cracked the password, and they allegedly found over 400 files with pornographic content containing children. The youngsters in the files were assessed to start at 10-months-old spanning through the teenage years, and both boys and girls were allegedly depicted.
Fitzgerald was taken into custody on November 20, and he is currently facing 408 counts of possession of child pornography. He was incarcerated on a bond set at over $2 million.
In a public announcement by the Polk County Sheriff, it was disclosed that he may face more charges since the authorities are only approximately 60% through inspecting one of the drives.
It was also reported that the authorities have not established a personal relationship between Fitzgerald and the children, and they did not appear to reside in the area.
If you or someone you love is suspected of a sexual offense, contact Orange County criminal defense lawyer Staycie R. Sena at (949) 477-8088 for a consultation now.