Florida man tried to hide his phone’s memory card. Cops say they found child porn on it

A Venice man is facing charges after he tried to hide a memory card to his cell phone that investigators say contained images of child pornography.

Jonathan L. Ricca, 40, faces 43 felony charges of transmission of child pornography and possession of sexual performance by a child after several images were found on his cell phone’s memory card, according to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office.

Investigators reported finding an IP address being used to download child porn images between December 2018 and March 2019, according to the probable cause affidavit.

A search warrant was executed Wednesday at Ricca’s home in the 1800 block of Mesic Hammock Way, where investigators spoke with Ricca.

During the search, detectives said Ricca tried to remove and hide the SD memory card from his cell phone, according to the affidavit.

Hundreds of images and videos depicting sexual battery involving young girls were allegedly found on the phone, stored in the SD card, according to the affidavit.

Ricca was arrested and taken to the Sarasota County jail, where he is being held without bond. The investigation is ongoing and deputies say additional charges are pending.