Courtesy: Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.
CLEARWATER, Fla. – A Clearwater psychologist who owns the Advantage Mental Health Center was arrested after detectives accused him of possessing child pornography, officials announced Tuesday.
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Investigators arrested 61-year-old William Hervey following a tip about illicit digital files being shared online.
Clearwater psychologist arrested
What we know:
A tip about child pornography files being accessed and shared via the internet sparked an investigation by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office. Detectives tracked the online activity to 61-year-old William Hervey, a local psychologist who owns the Advantage Mental Health Center.
According to detectives, the files contained images of children between the ages of 6 and 8 years old in various sexual poses. Investigators utilizing the Child Victim Identification Program determined the material belongs to a documented Russian child pornography series.
On Tuesday, detectives served a search warrant at Hervey’s home and seized multiple electronic devices for forensic examination.
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Deputies took Hervey into custody and booked him into the Pinellas County Jail on two counts of possession of child pornography.
Pinellas County sheriff’s investigation
What we don’t know:
Authorities have not yet confirmed if any patient devices or business networks at the Advantage Mental Health Center were involved in the case.
It also remains unclear how many total illicit files were downloaded or if additional charges will be filed after forensic teams finish inspecting the seized electronics.
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