Sarasota man charged with having child porn. He also had a stash of fire bombs, cops say

A 27-year-old Sarasota man is charged with 40 counts of possessing child pornography, which include several images of children being forced to have sex with animals, according to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies say Bradley Edward Negron-Cruz viewed over 100 images and videos of children ranging from infants to 13 years old being sexually assaulted.

Deputies launched an investigation on Feb. 24 after receiving a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that Negron-Cruz was using his Skype account to download the images.

Negron-Cruz admitted he downloaded the images for his own gratification, according to the arrest report.

Deputies say Negron-Cruz became paranoid about downloading the images and attempted to destroy his laptop, throwing it into a dumpster at a nearby shopping plaza.

During the execution of the search warrant on March 24 of his residence, members of the sheriff’s SWAT team made entry and also discovered Negron-Cruz had several Molotov cocktails in plain view on his lanai.

Negron-Cruz was living with his parents at the time of his arrest. His father told deputies that he was aware of the devices and was told by his son that they were for protection because he was scared of gangs.

“He allowed his son to keep the items because they kept him calm,” his father told deputies, according to the report.

Negron-Cruz was booked into the Sarasota County jail on charges of child porn possession and possessing an explosive device. He is being held without bond.