The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office has issued child pornography charges against a man already in jail on drug charges this week, the agency announced Friday. 30-year-old Eric Hoover Jr. has been in custody since June 10th, and on Thursday he was given a dozen additional criminal charges.
Hoover’s initial arrest came as part of the FCSO’s ‘Operation: Summer Slammer’, in which 19 suspects were arrested in connection to a countywide narcotics investigation. He was charged then with possession of cocaine with intent to sell, manufacture, or deliver, plus unlawful usage of a two-way communication device.
Ever since that arrest Hoover has been at the county jail without bond, and additional charges were added for possession of drug paraphernalia and violation of probation. Special Investigations Unit (SIU) detectives investigating his alleged drug activities were the ones to come across what they described as ‘child sexual abuse material’ on his mobile phone.
A search warrant was procured for the phone, and the FCSO Digital Forensic Unit underwent a forensic autopsy of it. According to the FCSO, 23 files were discovered containing ‘sexually explicit photos and videos of victims determined to be under 5 years of age’.
Hoover was re-arrested at the county jail on July 31st, now with eleven additional charges: ten counts of possession of child pornography plus one county of allowing a child to engage in sex. He’s still in custody as of Saturday, still with no bond. The FCSO Cyber Crimes Unit and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children are currently working to identify and locate the victims of Hoover’s alleged crimes, and so more charges may be levied against him as the investigation continues.
“We arrested this dirtbag back in June as a drug-dealing target of Operation: Summer Slammer, but our detectives found out that he was committing crimes that are even more heinous,” said Flagler Sheriff Rick Staly. “I commend everyone involved for their hard work making sure this poison peddler pervert faces the consequences of his sick fantasies, and he shouldn’t see the outside of a prison cell for a long, long time.”
Chris Gollon is a Flagler County resident since 2004, as well as a staple of the local independent music scene and avid observer of Central Florida politics, arts, and recreation.
