Tampa teen, 16, charged with possession of child pornography

TAMPA — Deputies arrested a 16-year-old Tampa boy Monday, charging him as an adult with 50 counts of possession of child pornography.

Patrick Melton of 12004 Riverhills Drive was first taken into custody June 10 after his computer was identified in a network of computers downloading and trading images and videos of children ages 2 to 12, said J.D. Callaway, a spokesman for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

Melton was charged as a minor and taken to the Juvenile Assessment Center. After his release, the State's Attorney's Office decided that Melton should be tried as an adult, Callaway said.

"I believe he's youngest person we've ever arrested for this type of crime," Callaway said.

The computer was sent to a Florida Department of Law Enforcement lab for analysis.

Though he lives with his father, Melton shouldered the blame for the computer's content, Callaway said.

"He did tell the detectives that it was him who searched for the child pornography. And he watched it," Callaway said. "He said he was grateful when the arrest came, because he believed that he would one day act on his impulses to have sex with a young child."

Melton is being held at the Falkenburg Road Jail with bail set at $100,000.