An 18-year-old Stetson University student was arrested on campus in DeLand last Monday after investigators traced a tip from Discord back to his dorm room, where a forensic search allegedly turned up videos of child sexual abuse material on his personal computer. He was charged with two felony counts and released from custody the same day on a $5,000 bond that bars him from using the internet at all going forward.
Tip to Arrest Took Nearly Ten Months
According to The West Volusia Beacon, the case began back in January, when the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Cyber Crimes Task Force received a tip from Discord. Investigators said the charging affidavit describes three videos depicting minors in sexual conduct that had been uploaded to the platform. From there, the task force worked to trace the material to a source on Stetson's campus.
Investigators identified the student's white Lexus parked in the lot of one of Stetson's residence halls, the Beacon reports, which led them to execute a search warrant on his dorm room on Oct. 26. That warrant is what finally brought the nearly ten-month investigation to a head, ending with the student's arrest on campus that same day.
Student Handed Over Passwords, Forensic Exam Followed
Once investigators were inside the dorm room, the student reportedly provided passwords to all of his devices and online accounts, the same report states. Law enforcement seized multiple electronic devices on the scene, and an on-site forensic examination produced two pornographic videos of prepubescent females on his personal computer, according to the Beacon's account of the case.
The student was charged with two counts of possession of sexual material of a child, which the Beacon's report describes as a third-degree felony. Florida's own statute on the subject, Florida Statutes §827.071, states that a person who knowingly possesses, controls or intentionally views child sexual abuse material commits a felony of the second degree, and defines a child or minor under the law as someone younger than 18. The dossier does not resolve how the specific charge filed in this case aligns with that statutory language.
Bond Conditions Cut Off Internet Access
The student was released on a $5,000 bond the same day as his arrest, per the Beacon's reporting. That bond comes with a strict set of conditions: no contact with anyone under 18, no access to the internet, no possession of any device capable of connecting to the internet, and GPS monitoring.
An arraignment date of Nov. 12 has been set at the Volusia County Courthouse. As of the Beacon's reporting, it remained unknown whether the student would also face expulsion or academic suspension from Stetson.
University Says It's Cooperating, No Known Safety Risk
Stetson University officials told the outlet that the school is cooperating with law enforcement and that there is no known safety risk to campus. University officials also said they follow the Stetson Code of Community Standards when responding to concerns about student behavior, according to the same report.
The case lands amid a steady stream of similar prosecutions across the state. In March, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement arrested a Sanford man on 53 counts of possession of child sexual abuse material and 46 counts involving generated, AI-produced images. In August, the agency announced the arrests of three men on separate child-exploitation cases, including one Cape Coral man charged with 10 counts of possession of child sexual abuse material and one count of bestiality. And in June, a Volusia County man, Shane Christopher Abrams, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for attempting to entice and use a 13-year-old child to produce sexually explicit photos, according to the FBI's Jacksonville field office.
Nationally, the scale of the problem keeps growing. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children reported that its CyberTipline received 21.3 million reports in 2025 alone, encompassing more than 61.8 million images, videos and other files tied to suspected child sexual exploitation.
