34-year-old DeLand resident Christian Petri was arrested and charged with 50 counts of possession of child pornography, the Volusia Sheriff's Office announced in a release late last week. Petri has been in custody at the Volusia County Branch Jail since Thursday.
According to the report issued by the VSO, the agency investigated a tip sent to them by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The VSO Child Exploitation Unit took up the case, which would prove to be especially heinous in nature.
A search warrant led detectives with the Volusia Sheriff's Office to Petri's electronic devices, which reportedly contained sexually explicit videos and pictures of boys and girls from ages two to thirteen. The material apparently depicted the graphic sexual abuse of the victims. The VSO believes that Petri downloaded the content from another source.
A warrant for Petri's arrest was issued, and he turned himself in at the Volusia County Branch Jail on Thursday. It's his first recorded arrest in Volusia County. Petri's bail was set at a staggering $1,250,000, good for one sum of $25,000 for each charge.
The Volusia Sheriff's Office urges anyone with information about the potential sexual abuse of a child to reach out to the VSO Child Exploitation Unit by calling (386) 323-3574.
