A Florida man got busted for allegedly amassing the largest collection of child p-orn in the state's history.
John Shearen had between 500,000 and 1 million full-length videos and images of kiddie pornography, as well as children's underwear, in his Leesburg apartment, police said.
"He is the No. 1 person that can distribute child po-rnography throughout the world," Special Agent Jeff Duncan said. "And he's been doing it."
Shearen was arrested Thursday, his 51st birthday, on 15 counts of possessing child p-orn and 15 counts of distributing it. More charges may be filed as the investigation continues.
The illicit material was stockpiled on "mass media storage devices" at his home in the Lakeside Pointe apartment complex, about 45 miles northwest of Orlando, authorities said.
"They were stored on several computers and external hard drives to actually being transferred from the computers to separate DVDs, and he has a DVD collection of child po-rnography," Duncan told Orlando-based ABC station WFTV.
"So, we have a lot of work to do. Those initial cases will be charged today."
When confronted about the children's underwear, Shearen claimed that he wore it himself, which Duncan noted is "virtually impossible."
Authorities identified Shearen while monitoring child p-orn websites last month and secured a search warrant. When they Shearen, he was in the midst of downloading more indecent videos.
Investigators started going door-to-door at the apartment complex to find out if Shearen had any contact with neighboring children. Needless to say, the parents have been appalled and horrified.
"Absolutely disgusting," one neighbor said. "I don't see how somebody can even look at that."
Shearen was booked without bond in Lake County Jail, reported local NBC-affiliate WPTV.
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