ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County deputies said a man was arrested on Wednesday after a Brighthouse cable employee found child pornography during a service appointment.
According to officials, the Brighthouse technician was sent to the suspect's apartment on Redman Street for a request for service.
The suspect, identified as 57-year-old Stace Valentine, called Brighthouse Networks after his phone wouldn't properly sync with his television, deputies said. Investigators believe Valentine had the child porn images on his phone, but wanted to put them on his TV. According to officials, the Brighthouse worker saw the images on Valentine's phone during the appointment.
The Brighthouse employee reported what he saw to law enforcement. A few weeks later, police found the child pornography while executing a search warrant at Valentine's apartment.
WFTV's Drew Petrimoulx went to Valentine's apartment to speak to him about his arrest, but there was no answer.
Officials said Valentine wouldn't have been arrested if it weren't for the Brighthouse employee's tip to police.
"Brighthouse networks has thousands of representatives out there in the community everyday, and being able to leverage that into community safety is of the upmost importance," said Brighthouse Networks spokesman Donald Forbes.
Forbes said Brighthouse's 'Operation Bright Eyes' is a program that they've implemented where employees are trained to spot crime while they're working.
Valentine was subsequently arrested and charged with 34 counts of possession of child pornography. He was booked into the Orange County jail, but has since bonded out.
WFTV
