A child pornography investigation led to the arrest of a resident of the Village of Pine Hills.
The Fruitland Park Police Department announced that 61-year-old Patrick Krepline was arrested on a warrant Thursday for 17 counts of possession of child pornography and 17 counts of transmission of pornography by electronic device. Krepline, who moved to The Villages from Wisconsin, is currently being held at Lake County Jail with a $119,000 bond.
His arrest followed an intensive investigation by the Fruitland Park Police Department and the Central Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force aimed at combating the exploitation of children.
In May, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children received information from a social media provider that one of their account holders uploaded child pornography to their account. The cyber tip was forwarded to the local police.
Anyone with information about these types of cases or other incidents to come forward and report it to the ICAC Task Force or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline website or call 1-800-843-5678.