Man arrested for child pornography

A local man who works as a substitute teacher has been arrested, charged with multiple counts of possessing child pornography.

55 year old William Britt first came to the attention of the Sheriff’s Office after his former landlord saw child pornography in a box as he was helping Britt move out of his Cudjoe Key residence earlier this month. The landlord told Deputy Anthony Fuentes he had evicted Britt because of a lack of sanitation and cleanliness.

He said he picked up a box to put it in Britt’s van and saw pictures in the box clearly depicting child pornography. He said there were also videos in the box. He grabbed several pictures and one video to show to authorities.

Major Crimes Detective Manuel Cuervo was assigned to investigate. During the course of his investigation, he discovered Britt had been working as a substitute teacher at Sugarloaf School and had worked at other schools in the lower Keys as well; at the time of the investigation, he was applying for a substitute position at Glynn Archer School. Detective Cuervo notified the School District about his case against Britt and asked them to work with him in an attempt to find out where Britt was now living. School District authorities cooperated fully with the investigation.

Detective Cuervo’s investigation revealed Britt moved to the Sigsbee Naval Air station after leaving Cudjoe Key; Britt is reportedly retired from the military. Once they were notified, military authorities worked with detectives on the case.

: Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Detectives Geni Hernandez and
 Rosa Digiovanni search boxes outside an R/V where William Britt
 has been living on the  Sigsbee Naval Air station. A
naval investigator stands by, cooperating with the investigation.

On November 8^th, after Britt was interviewed for a job at Glynn Archer Elementary School, Detective Cuervo, assisted by other detectives from his unit, did a traffic stop on his van. The detective confronted Britt about the information and evidence he had against him. Britt admitted to possessing child pornography. Two guns – a loaded handgun and a sawed off shotgun – were found in the van, along with a video depicting nude children.

Britt consented to a search of the recreational vehicle he was staying in on base. He cooperated with detectives, handing over 123 printed images depicting clearly minor children engaging in sexual conduct. He also told the detective he had numerous computer hard drives and USB storage devices with more child pornography on them. All the equipment was seized and the investigation is continuing.

During an interview, Britt told the detective he knows he is “sick”. He claimed never to have touched any children, but says he has been involved in many community groups involving children’s activities. He said he works at schools “because he enjoys the company”.

Britt was arrested. He was charged with 123 counts of possessing child pornography. He was also charged with an outstanding warrant for possession of seven counts of possessing child pornography from the initial case earlier in the month.