UF student arrested for distributing child pornography

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Cristopher (aka Christopher) Carson Saladino, 21, was arrested yesterday and charged with distribution of child pornography.

On February 3, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a CyberTip from Instagram regarding an account that distributed child sexual abuse material, including a video of a nude juvenile female.

The upload and login IP address for the account led to a Gainesville apartment complex.

A subpoena issued to Instagram by Gainesville Police Department (GPD) reportedly produced a verified email address and a “selfie” that the account had shared with another user. The subpoena also produced chats between the account and other users, some of whom identified as juveniles. In at least two chats with users who said they were minors, the account shared nude images and videos of himself, and in one chat, the account reportedly exchanged sexually explicit content that included child sexual abuse material. In one chat, the account discussed payment options with another user who was selling access to a site with “spicy content.”

A subpoena issued to Google for the recovery email address on the account produced a phone number, a subpoena to AT&T produced Saladino’s name as the owner of the phone number, and a search of a law enforcement database found a Cristopher Carson Saladino with an address in Merritt Island. A GPD detective noted that Saladino’s driver’s license photo matched the “selfie” from the Instagram account.

The GPD detective contacted a detective at the University of Florida Police Department (UFPD), who confirmed that Saladino is a current student at the University of Florida; the UFPD detective provided an address at Hideaway Gainesville.

The GPD detective also learned that the email address associated with the Instagram account had been reported to law enforcement in previous CyberTips. The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office reportedly said that Saladino was identified as the suspect in the cases: one of the cases was from 2019 when Saladino was a juvenile; one was from 2022 and was closed as “age questionable”; and in another 2022 case, Saladino reportedly admitted to owning the suspect account.

The GPD detective learned at the end of July that Saladino is now living at a house in the 2600 block of NW 3rd Avenue. Yesterday, a search warrant was executed at the house, and officers spoke with Saladino and his three roommates. Saladino reportedly said he had lived at the house since July 26 and had lived at Hideaway Gainesville before that. He reportedly confirmed ownership of the phone number associated with the email account that was used to create the Instagram account.

Post Miranda, Saladino reportedly said he owned the mail account but just used it for “spam” email and denied ownership of the Instagram account. However, after a detective showed him one of the chats with another user who claimed to be a minor, Saladino reportedly identified himself in the “selfie” and several nude pictures and videos. Saladino reportedly eventually admitted to creating, owning, accessing, and authoring the contents of the Instagram account and said he had created it “as a way to explore other options” and would “role play” sexually with other Instagram users. He reportedly admitted having sexual chats with other users who identified themselves as minors and said he had exchanged sexual content with those users. He said he sometimes told the other user that he was also a juvenile.

Saladino reportedly said he didn’t specifically remember the video that led to the CyberTip, but he sometimes found child sexual abuse material online and saved it to his device.

Saladino reportedly provided the password to the Instagram account, and a search of that account reportedly showed chats with at least three different users who said they were between the ages of 14 and 16; the chats were reportedly sexual in nature, and Saladino reportedly told the other user he was 15 or 16 years old.

Saladino reportedly acknowledged that he had previously had a conversation with a law enforcement officer about a different CyberTip and said he had been warned about the potential consequences of continuing these activities; he said he had been “trying to avoid this from happening again.” He reportedly said he knew it was illegal for him to possess or distribute child sexual abuse material and send his own sexual content to a minor.

The arrest report notes that further charges are pending.

Judge Aymer “Buck” Curtin set bail at $25,000, and Saladino has been released.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.