The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a man wanted for attempting to have sexual intercourse with children and possessing videos of such, who they’d been tracking since January.
John Draper IV, 42, was arrested Wednesday and charged with 10 counts of possession of photo/video of sexual performance by a child. He was booked into the Osceola County Jail.
On Jan. 31, the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) notified the Sheriff’s Office of an incident regarding Draper, that he had engaged in online chats expressing his desire to have sexual intercourse with children and possessing thousands of videos depicting children being sexually abused. The tip was generated after Mr. Draper disclosed to the source of his desire to commit a sexual act on a child. Detectives with the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) unit began an investigation into the incident by collecting evidence and conducted surveillance on the suspect.
Draper had vacated his last known residence when investigators tried to make contact, the Sheriff’s Office said, but on March 23 the ICAC unit received an additional tip from NCMEC that Draper possessed numerous files of “child abuse material” and videos. On Wednesday, the Osceola County ICAC finally tracked down Draper who admitted to not having a permanent address and living out of his vehicle and hotels. Draper was interviewed and admitted to possessing child pornography but denied sexually abusing any children. Based on the interview and evidence, he was arrested.
The Osceola County Sheriff's Office implores anyone with information about any other similar incidents to reach out at (407) 348-2222.
