Man arrested on child pornography charges

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

Richard Alexander West, 23, was arrested yesterday on 12 counts of possession of a photograph of a sexual performance by a child and a single count of promoting a photo/movie of a sexual performance by a child.

On March 2, 2021, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a CyberTip from Tumblr regarding child exploitation content on a user’s account. Tumblr provided the username and email address for the account; a subpoena to Google found that the email address was under the name “Alex Nordman.” A search warrant issued to Tumblr produced ten images showing sexual exploitation of a child and an image that investigators classified as child erotica, all of which were allegedly uploaded or shared by the suspect account.

The CyberTip was determined to be related to a past CyberTip from Tumblr that was investigated by Alachua County Sheriff’s Office. That account was traced to Richard Alexander West. Nordman is the maiden name of West’s mother.

The IP address connected with the account belonged to Cox Communications and was subleased to a user in Gainesville, at an address with utilities in the name of Richard Alexander West. West has since moved from that address but provided a new address to GRU when he moved, and a search warrant was executed at that new address on November 17.

West initially denied the allegations but later reportedly admitted creating both Tumblr accounts and possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material on Tumblr. He told officers that he used a different phone, which was kept in a dresser drawer, to view and share the child exploitation material. A search of that phone has reportedly found over 700 child sexual abuse images/videos to date, including infant/toddler child sexual abuse material.