Paul Zittel, a 72-year-old man, was arrested due to being in possession of a great quantity of child pornography that weighed more than one ton, as informed by the Florida police. Detective Chase King with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office informed WCJB-TV that in January, they received a tip regarding child pornography that was uploaded online, and after conducting an investigation, they identified the IP address to Zittel’s residence.
On Thursday, police searched Zittel’s premises and found over 200,000 printed images in various boxes in his office and bedroom, as well as a printer that was heavily used. The fifty boxes of images weighed more than a ton, according to the police, which was an unusual amount of physical evidence. King noted that usually the evidence is found in a digital format, such as thumb drives or computers.
Zittel has been charged with at least 25 counts of possession of child pornography. The sheriff’s office also mentioned that Zittel would never permit his roommates to enter his bedroom or office without an escort. King cautioned parents to always be mindful of what their children engage in online. He said that “what they can get into on the internet in ten seconds can lead to a world and lifetime of trauma and problems”.
One report found that between 2016 and 2020, the number of convicted child pornography offenders decreased from 1,593 to 1,023. Moreover, it was also mentioned that a vast majority of these offenders were men, 99.7%.