DeLand man sentenced to decades in prison for possession of child sex abuse materials

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — A DeLand man was sentenced to prison Friday for possession of materials depicting the sexual abuse of children.

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Detectives with the Volusia Sheriff’s Office Child Exploitation Unit executed a search warrant at 20-year-old Anthony Lee Rowell’s Marsh Road home back in October of 2023 in response to a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

The agency regularly alerts law enforcement officials to reports of exploitation and child pornographic material that has been shared online.

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During their search, detectives seized multiple cell phones, desktop and laptop computers, hard drives, video recorders, and tablets for forensic examination.

The analysis of the devices yielded multiple videos and photographs showing the sexual exploitation of girls and boys ranging in age from infancy to approximately 11 years old.

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Investigators also found that Rowell was uploading the files and sharing them with other users.

Rowell was arrested and booked into the Volusia County Jail on 30 counts of possession of sexual performance by a child.

Rowell was sentenced Friday morning to serve 68 years in state prison, followed by lifetime sex offender probation. and a lifetime sex offender designation.

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