The Florida man authorities say had been soliciting at least 40 underage girls online was communicating with at least one teenager from Georgetown County.
That information was released today by Georgetown County Sheriff Lane Cribb at a press conference concerning this week’s arrest of Justin Slavinski, 32, of Apopka, Florida.
As a result of an investigation by the Sheriff’s Office Internet Crime Unit that began in March, authorities uncovered approximately 27,000 instant messages and other communications Slavinski had sent to as many as 40 underage females in Florida and other states.
Also discovered on his computers were numerous photographs depicting child pornography, Cribb said.
It has not been revealed if Slavinski had physical contact with any of the females.
When asked if any of the girls are from Georgetown County, Cribb said ‘yes.’ When asked if there was more than one female he had been communicating with locally, Cribb said “only one that I know of.”
Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Carrie Cuthbertson said because the investigation is still in progress, the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office has asked that few details about the crime be released.
Cuthbertson said as a result of the local investigation, a search warrant executed on Slavinski’s residence by authorities in Florida.
Slavinski has been charged with one count of Criminal Solicitation of a Minor and three counts for Dissemination of Obscene Material to a Minor. He is being extradited to Georgetown County and is expected to arrive at the Detention Center this evening.
Read more on Slavinski’s arrest and the Sheriff’s Office Internet Crime Unit in Wednesday’s Georgetown Times.