POLK COUNTY, Fla — A Lake Alfred City Commissioner was arrested after allegedly having hundreds of images and videos of child porn on his electronic devices. After his arrest, deputies found over 2,000 more videos and images.
Charles Lake, 90, was first arrested in Polk County on April 18 on 300 counts of possession of a photo of sexual performance by a child.
Lake now faces an additional 2,896 counts of possession of child pornography, bringing the total to 3,196 counts.
Following his original arrest, PCSO investigators seized and searched Lake's devices and found over 2,000 videos and images depicting sexual abuse of children between the ages of six months and twelve years of age.
According to deputies, a tip was sent to the Polk County Sheriff's Office on Nov. 17, 2023, by Adobe Systems about three uploaded photos depicting a child 7-10 years old in varying undressed states. The pictures were from Charles Lake's IP address.
This led to a search warrant being issued for Lake's home on April 18. Lake was interviewed at his home by investigators and admitted to having child porn. He told investigators that he did not know how much child porn he possessed and that he had been looking at it since before he moved to Florida in 2008.
The City Manager of Lake Alfred, Ryan Leavengood, sent ABC Action News this statement on Lake's arrest.
