Young kids told parents Leesburg child porn suspect lurked outside their windows

LEESBURG, Fla. — Parents have told Channel 9 their children recognized a Leesburg man accused of possessing more child pornography in the state of Florida than anyone else.

Those children went on to say the suspect, John Shearen, even peered into their bedroom windows.

Officers said Shearen had more than 500,000 child porn images and videos at his home in Leesburg when they arrested him on his 51st birthday Thursday at the Lakeside Pointe apartment complex.

Agents said they identified Shearen last month while monitoring child-porn websites, and they caught him at his computer as he was downloading more videos.

Parents of the children said they aren't sure if what their kids are saying is true because they're so young, but once neighbors compared stories, they became frightened.

"My daughter said she was scared to go into her room because someone was looking into her windows. She said there was a bad man at her window," said one parent, who did not want to be identified.

The mother told Channel 9 she was terrified when she learned Shearen had been arrested for child porn, but the bigger shock came when her 3-year-old daughter told her Shearen was the bad man who had been creeping around late at night outside her window.

"She saw the picture and said, 'Mommy, that's him,'" the woman said.

The woman's son told her he, too, had seen the guy before.

"I showed my son the picture and before I even explained anything that was going on, I asked him had he seen this guy before, and he said, 'Yes, he is always at the park, watching us play,'" the woman said.

But the family isn't alone. Caroline Morrison said her 6-year-old also said she recognized the suspect.

"When I showed her his picture last night, she said, 'Mommy, mommy, that's the man that was at my window,' and I also saw him near the neighbor's window as well," said Morrison. "She said he had been coming to her window and scratching at it, and trying to get her attention."

Morrison was so worried she covered the window so no one could look in and she wedged it shut so it could no longer be opened.

Channel 9's Myrt Price called investigators handling the case to let them know what the parents had said.

Shearen faces 20 counts each of distribution and possession of child porn, but agents said there may be more charges filed as the investigation continues.

WFTV