Child porn found on smart watch sends Florida man back to prison

A Florida man was sent back behind bars after officials said he had child pornography on his smart watch.

Jonathan Pates, 28, of Rockledge, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for possession of child pornography. But this wasn’t his first offense. Pates already was on federal supervised release for child pornography charges, according to the State Attorney’s Office.

Pates was sentenced to more than six years in prison after a January 2010 conviction of receiving child pornography, and was to serve 10 years of supervised release, according to the State Attorney’s Office.

Eight months after he was released from prison, Pates got a smart watch where he transferred three videos and 76 images that showed sexual abuse to young children, according to the release.

His probation officer noticed the watch during a treatment meeting and arranged to inspect it, the release stated. But Pates abandoned the watch.

It was later found by two people in a park who turned it in to law enforcement, according to the release. He pleaded guilty to charges on April 25.

“This repeat offender criminal did not learn his lesson after his first prison term for child pornography,” acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations Tampa Ivan J. Arvelo said. “This sentence stops this predator from continuing to cause harm to children.”

Pates also was ordered to forfeit the smart watch and to serve 20 years of supervised release after he is released from prison, according to the release.

This story was originally published July 25, 2017 at 5:50 PM with the headline "Child porn found on smart watch sends Florida man back to prison."