Seven FL men and a NJ man are being accused in a social media child porn probe that links to a ring leader in Turkey.
Amanda Lumpkin, Patch Staff
|Updated Wed, Apr 9, 2025 at 10:55 pm ET
FLORIDA — Eight men were recently arrested in connection with an international child porn ring that included selling and buying online child sexual abuse material, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said this week.
Uthmeier on Monday announced a group, led by Turkish resident Mehmet Berk Bozuyuk, was accused of transferring "massive amounts" of the material to buyers consisting of eight men - seven of which were in Florida.
“... Every image of child abuse leaves a lasting scar on an innocent life, and we will aggressively prosecute these heinous crimes,” Uthmeier said in a news release. “It’s disgusting that child sexual abuse material is advertised in plain view on apps such as TikTok, and we will continue fighting to get these major social media companies to do their part in shutting down the spread of this material."
An undercover investigation uncovered the global operation, Uthmeier said. Investigators who responded to a single ad for at least 6 terabytes of material for $100 received more than 1 million images and videos, all child sexual abuse material, Uthmeier said.
Additionally, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement had a website's domain seized and redirected to the state department in an attempt to "hinder the further distribution of child sexual abuse material," Uthmeier said.
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People who profited from selling the child sexual abuse material were identified, and at least four of them were money mules who took money from Florida buyers, Uthmeier said. The mules would then pocket a percentage of the funding and send the rest to Bozuyuk in Turkey, Uthmeier said.
Bozuyuk was then accused of filtering the money by buying "access to unsuspecting victims’ financial accounts through the dark web before taking possession," Uthmeier said.
“This case is a testament to the power of law enforcement teamwork and the strength of interagency collaboration,” FDLE Commissioner Mark Glass said in the release. “To the criminals believing they can hide among the shadows of the internet — know this: FDLE is always watching, we are always working and we will always find you.”
The following were arrested on charges of:
Warrants have been issued to charge Bozuyuk with RICO, conspiracy to commit RICO, money laundering, 13 counts of promotion of sexual performance by a child 10 images or more, 11 counts of selling child pornography, 13 counts of out-of-state transmission of child pornography by electronic device, 13 counts of distribution of obscene material and nine counts of use of two-way communication device, Uthmeier said.
Furthermore, Oregon resident Xiomara Del Real Maqueda faces a singular charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering, Uthmeier said.
It was not immediately known if they had been arrested.
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