Palmetto man facing additional child porn charges

A Palmetto man is facing additional criminal charges after more child pornography was found on devices seized by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

Robert Glenn Swartz, 72, was first arrested on Sept. 13 and charged with 11 counts of possession of a photo of sexual performance by a child and one count of electronic transport of child pornography. On Thursday, the sheriff’s office charged him with 11 additional counts of possession of a photo of sexual performance by a child.

The new charges are a result of more evidence that has been processed, according to sheriff’s office spokesman Dave Bristow.

Swartz came under the radar as part of an ongoing investigation that since Oct. 14, 2014, has targeted people in possession of child pornography by by tracing IP addresses and locating computers being used to offer to distribute child pornography .

An undercover detective identified an IP address, later found to belong to Swartz, that was being used to advertise 194 suspected child pornography items. On June 22, the detective was able to download a video from Swartz’s IP address, confirming it was child pornography.

Detectives seized two external hard drives when they searched Swartz’s home on Sept. 13, after getting a search warrant signed by a judge. He later told detectives that the hard drives contained child pornography files he downloaded from the internet.

This story was originally published October 20, 2016 at 8:37 PM with the headline "Palmetto man facing additional child porn charges."