Child Rescue Coalition warn parents after child porn arrest in West Boca home daycare
BOCA RATON, Fla. (CBS12) — A Boca Raton-based software company that tracks child porn offenders around the world is sounding the alarm after the recent arrest of David Manas.
The 62-year-old is behind bars on 30 counts child pornography charges after deputies arrested him at his West Boca home, the same place where investigators say his wife runs a daycare center.
Child Rescue Coalition CEO Carly Yoost and her team work around the clock to protect the innocence of children through their software technology called Child Protection System.
The forensic tool traces illegal sharing of photos and videos of child porn in chat rooms and file-sharing networks, not just nationwide, but around the world.
They make it almost impossible for abuser like Manas to hide.
“It’s a felony for every file they are in possession of, so this man in this case had at least 30 individual and unique files," Yoost said. "It’s quite possible he had many more."
The software, which is free for law enforcement to use, tracks the path of child abuse images to the individual’s IP address of the computer that downloaded it.
The evidence is then taken to a judge.
During a search warrant, investigators can also retrieve deleted files on the suspect’s computer.
“We’re seeing this prevalent activity. Luckily, law enforcement in Palm Beach County is really proactive and using our system to identify and put a stop to these predators,” Yoost said. “They like to download other people’s material and they’ll also take images themselves and be the producers.”
She says that’s the worst-case scenario in the David Manas investigation.
Late Thursday evening, CBS12 News cameras were rolling on Palm Beach County deputies walking in and out of Manas' home, hours after his morning arrest.
The Department of Health in Palm Beach County tells CBS12 News it had no record of any child care license at the home.
“I certainly encourage anyone who did send their child to that daycare to be following up with the investigator because they’re certainly still a lot of work to be done to make sure there wasn’t actually hands on abuse,” Yoost said.
More than 12,000 people have been arrested in cases identified by Child Rescue Coalition in the past six years.
They are currently tracing 2,000 IP addresses in the state, with 29 in Palm Beach County.
July 30 is also World Day against Trafficking in Persons.
“It’s a day to talk about the whole large picture, which is predators who are out there showing us that they have an interest in harming our children,” Yoost said.