An Ocala man was jailed Tuesday and charged with 19 counts of possession of child pornography.
Dennis Allen Rutherford, 63, was arrested after a Major Crimes detective from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office received a tip that in May 2019 multiple files of child pornography had been uploaded by an email account associated with the name Dennis Rutherford.
Detectives obtained Rutherford’s information and were able to verify that the account matched the information provided in the tip. Detectives obtained a search warrant for Rutherford’s residence and removed him and his wife before going through the house, a sheriff’s office report states.
After being read his rights, Rutherford said he didn’t remember if he had downloaded any child pornography or not, but any found on his computers would be his, the report says.
A digital forensic technician from the sheriff’s office analyzed Rutherford’s hard drive and found multiple images of child pornography that “depicted prepubescent juvenile females, who either were engaging in sex acts with adults or another juvenile,” the report says, adding that there also were “lewd and lascivious files of prepubescent children in inappropriate positions.”
Rutherford, who lives at in the 8300 block of SW 109th Place in Ocala, was arrested at 11 a.m. Tuesday and transported to the Marion County Jail. He is being held on $95,000 bond. His next court date hasn’t yet been set.