A prosecutor has concluded that the state cannot “in good faith” proceed with a case in which a Villager was arrested last year on child pornography possession charges.
State Attorney William Gladson announced earlier this month that no information would be filed in the case against 64-year Robert Barry Conn, who lives at 797 Clifford Court in the Village of Pine Ridge. The New York native had been arrested Jan. 31, 2020 at the Pine Ridge Pool on Moyer Loop on warrants charging him with 15 counts of possession of images depicting sexual performance by a child.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office Cyber Crimes Unit had executed a search warrant targeting the IP address serviced by Comcast at Conn’s home address. The warrant led to the seizure of Conn’s Dell Inspiron desktop computer, which was turned over to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Images of child pornography had been found on the computer, according to the arrest report.
However, the prosecutor’s office has concluded the evidence is legally insufficient.
“Based upon a review of the current evidence, as well as conversations with various witnesses, the state can no longer, in good faith, move forward on these charges because the state cannot prove one or more elements beyond and to the exclusion of all reasonable doubt,” the state attorney announced.
Conn had been free on $150,000 bond. His bond has since been discharged.
