Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office detectives arrested a 28-year-old Gibsonton man after a search warrant executed at his residence turned up more than 100 files of child sexual abuse material, according to authorities. Jalil Butler now faces four charges stemming from the investigation into possession and distribution of the material.
According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office
, detectives served the search warrant at a Gibsonton residence on Tuesday, where they discovered the trove of files. The agency's announcement said detectives had been investigating the possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material before the warrant was carried out.
Butler was booked on four separate charges, per the sheriff's office: solicitation or possession of child sexual abuse material involving 10 or more images, a charge that was applied 100 times; in-state transmission of child sexual abuse material by electronic device; unlawful use of a two-way communications device; and tampering with physical evidence.
Florida law treats the solicitation, possession, control or intentional viewing of each qualifying image as a separate offense. If an image depicts more than one child, the law also allows each child depicted in that image to be counted separately. That statutory framework provides context for the sheriff’s office listing the image-related charge 100 times; the charge remains an allegation, not a finding of guilt. Florida’s child sexual abuse material statute spells out the separate-offense rules.
Sheriff Points to Pattern of Exploitation Cases
Sheriff Chad Chronister said individuals who exploit children is appalling, and that his team will find offenders and put them behind bars. The sheriff's office describes its mission as protecting and defending the community while preserving the rights and dignity of all residents.
Tuesday's arrest follows a string of recent Hillsborough County cases built on similar investigative tactics. On September 15, the sheriff's office's Internet Predator Unit, aided by the HCSO SWAT Team, served a search warrant at a residence in the 3100 block of Juanita Drive near Plant City after a CyberTipline report flagged multiple CSAM video files. Once that residence was cleared, detectives searched it and seized numerous electronic devices, the agency said.
A CyberTipline report is an investigative lead, not by itself a finding that a crime occurred. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children says its tipline receives suspected-exploitation reports from the public and electronic service providers and makes them available to law enforcement. In 2025, it received 12.5 million reports and escalated more than 53,000 as urgent or involving a child in imminent danger. The center’s 2025 CyberTipline figures put the local investigations described here in the context of a far larger national reporting system.
Second Recent Case Involved a Wimauma Man on Probation
In another case, the sheriff's office arrested 42-year-old Wimauma resident Daniel Munive Viruet after detectives served a court-authorized search warrant in an ongoing CSAM investigation. Detectives and the SWAT team carried out that warrant at Munive Viruet's home on September 30, seizing multiple electronic devices, including his cell phone, the agency said.
These cases arrive amid a broader national enforcement push. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has said that in 2025, Internet Crimes Against Children task forces nationwide conducted nearly 347,000 investigations, leading to the arrest of more than 17,000 offenders.
The Internet Crimes Against Children program is a federally supported network, rather than a single national police agency. Established in 1998, it helps state and local law enforcement respond to technology-facilitated crimes against children and provides investigative and forensic training. In 2025, task forces trained about 73,000 officers, prosecutors and other professionals, alongside the investigations and arrests cited above. OJJDP’s program description outlines the network’s role and national scope.
As with any arrest, Butler's charges represent accusations rather than a determination of guilt. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office's own arrest inquiry system notes that an arrest does not indicate that a person is guilty, and further details on Butler's case — including any plea or court proceedings — were not available.
