Palmetto man faces 20 child porn charges, cops say

Special agents from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement have arrested a 43-year-old Palmetto man on 20 counts of child pornography possession.

Agents say Odie Brock Ely downloaded multiple videos of children as young as 4 years old being sexually abused by adult men.

Agents executed a search warrant on Ely’s home in the 400 block of 48th Street West on Jan. 13. An on-site forensic examination of Ely’s laptop revealed “hundreds of child pornography files,” according to the arrest report.

The ages of the children depicted were largely between 4 and 9 years of age.

Ely told agents the computer was his and that no else had access to it. When asked what he uses the computer for, Ely stopped cooperating, according to the report.

Ely was booked into the Manatee County jail where he remains in custody on bonds totaling $200,000.