LAKE ALFRED, Fla — A Lake Alfred city commissioner was arrested for 300 counts of child pornography on Thursday.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a tip that Charles Lake, 90, had nude pictures of a girl between the ages of 7 and 10 on his computer, according to an arrest affidavit. The photos were uploaded to Adobe, which made the tip.
The center found that those photos were connected to Lake after they subpoenaed Spectrum, which was able to give them Lake's information.
When the Polk County Sheriff's Office went to Lake's house with a search warrant, Lake told them he had child porn on his computer and said most of it is saved to a thumb drive in his office, according to his arrest affidavit.
He told deputies he was a journalist for years and was fascinated with child porn.
"I do not know how much child porn I possess, but I have been looking at it since I lived in New Jersey (prior to 2008). I only recently began saving it within the last two years but I am not sure why," Lake said, according to the arrest report.
When detectives found the USB Lake was talking about, they found 300 videos and pornographic pictures of children between 2 and 12 years old.
“Regardless of where it’s at, but certainly in our own city, it’s absolutely shocking,” Lake Alfred Police Chief Art Bodenheimer, who has known Lake for 15 years, said.
Chief Bodenheimer says he and other colleagues are beyond disappointed.
“Shocked. I think that’s the word. I have kids, grandkids. And protecting them. Yeah, it hits home,” the chief added.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd was out of town but released a statement reading: “It is incredibly disappointing when a community leader becomes involved in such a disgusting crime. There are no indications that any of the images that have been discovered are from any local children, but my detectives—who are simply the best at what they do, are looking into that.”
Lake was booked into jail on numerous second-degree felony charges. The judge set bond for Lake at $5,000 per count. He was also appointed a public defender and will be on house arrest with a GPS monitor if he makes bail.
According to the Lake Alfred staff directory, Lake was vice mayor before serving as mayor from 2015 to 2019. He also served on a transportation board, an environment committee and was a member of the chamber of commerce, among many other involvements.
The city of Lake Alfred released a statement saying they were unaware of the investigation but are cooperating fully and have reached out to the FDLE and the state attorney’s office for further guidance.