A Polk County man is facing 100 child porn charges after he was caught allegedly taking a photo of a 12-year-old girl at a Target, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Daniel Mora, 27, allegedly took the photo May 10 at Target on Rolling Oaks Boulevard in Kissimmee while the child was tying her shoe, according to officials. The child noticed a flash behind her and saw an unknown man, believed to be Mora, quickly move away.
On May 16, deputies returned to the same Target after a report that Mora returned to the store. A deputy confronted Mora and asked if he knew why he was there, to which Mora said “because he was sick and took pictures of girls,” according to an arrest report.
Mora allegedly admitted to taking the photo of the 12-year-old on May 10, and also said he took the photos “for pleasure” and that “he was embarrassed to talk about it,” according to the report.
Mora gave the deputy permission to search his phone, where the deputy found multiple videos of him filming young girls in stores. Mora said he couldn’t remember taking photos anywhere other than that Target location.
“Mr. Mora stated he was embarrassed and stated he was a victim of child abuse when he was younger,” the arrest report reads. “He advised he has never committed a hand-on offense to a minor. He stated that he does not know how to talk to girls his age, so he talks to younger girls because they are easier to talk to. He stated he has never chatted with younger girls online but has interacted with younger girls in public. He stated because he was abused as a child his ‘hormones kick at weird moments.’ He stated he understood the difference between right and wrong and he was taking responsibility.”
Mora told the deputy that there would be “illegal content” on his phone, and said there was also a blue flash drive at his Polk County home, where he lived with his father, that contained child porn, according to the arrest report.
Deputies searched the Poinciana-area home on Friday. Mora’s father did not know about the child pornography, according to the report. Detectives found the blue flash drive, which contained 100 images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children, as well as a selfie of Mora and a photo of his social security card.
At least one of the videos showed a child under the age of 5, according to deputies.
Inside Mora’s bedroom, detectives also found a “child-like” sex doll.
Mora was charged with 100 counts of enhanced possession of child pornography and one count of possession of obscene material.