A 17-year-old boy from Ocala was arrested this week after he allegedly used the social media platform Discord to trade child pornography to other users for video game “rank.”
In November of 2024, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office received a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which indicated that a user had uploaded multiple files of child sexual abuse material to a Discord account, according to MCSO.
A detective launched an investigation and obtained a series of search warrants, along with subpoenas, that eventually led law enforcement to identifying Brayan Alvarez-Torres as the Discord user who had allegedly uploaded the files.
During the course of the investigation, MCSO received a second cyber tip from NCMEC, which indicated that Alvarez-Torres had allegedly sent messages in a group chat “advertising” that he had child sexual abuse material.
Detectives traveled to an apartment complex in Ocala, where they made contact with Alvarez-Torres and his parents. According to MCSO, the detectives determined that Alvarez-Torres was the sole user of the Discord account that had uploaded the child pornography.
While speaking with detectives, Alvarez-Torres allegedly admitted to downloading files depicting child sexual abuse material because other users had told him they would “gain rank for him” if he acquired the pornographic material.
In addition, Alvarez-Torres allegedly told detectives that “more than 30 files” of child sexual abuse material were stored on his smartphone.
On Monday, January 27, 2025, Alvarez-Torres was arrested and transported to the Department of Juvenile Justice. He is currently being charged with possession of child pornography (four counts) and unlawful use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony (one count).
MCSO stated that an upcoming digital forensic examination of Alvarez-Torres’ smartphone will likely lead to additional charges against him.