By Stephen Kindland
Staff writer
ORANGE PARK – FBI agents have arrested a 64-year-old man who lives near the Somer Thompson family on child pornography charges but say the man is not a suspect in the 7-year-old child’s abduction or murder.
Sixty-four-year-old Charles Watkins of 226 Chestnut Ct. was arrested without incident early Thursday, March 18, at his home, FBI Special Agent Jeff Westcott said. He said Watkins is charged with one count each of receiving and possessing child pornography.
The charges are related to computer images, but Westcott declined to give further details.
He said the arrest follows a lengthy, multi-agency investigation that based on tips and other information that surfaced during an investigation into the murder of Somer, who was abducted on her way home from Grove Park Elementary school on Oct. 19. Her body was found two days later at a South Georgia landfill.
Watkins is not considered a suspect in her slaying, Westcott said.
He said the Clay County Sheriff’s Office was one of several agencies involved in the Watkins investigation, but the case was turned over to the FBI because of the nature of the charges. A federal grand jury returned an indictment one day before the arrest was made.
Watkins’ arrest comes on the heels of the Feb. 11 arrest in Meridian, Miss., of former Orange Park area resident Jarred Harrell.
Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler considers Harrell, who initially was charged with 29 counts of possession of child pornography but now faces additional charges of molesting an unidentified child younger than 5 years old and promoting a sexual performance involving the same girl, as a person of interest in the Thompson case.
Investigators have said they believe Harrell molested the child in a house once owned by Harrell’s stepfather at 1152 Gano Ave. The house is situated near an area where Somer last was seen.
The initial child pornography charges were filed after two of Harrell’s roommates evicted him from the apartment they shared on Wells Road. The roommates had become suspicious of Harrell and turned over a CD allegedly belonging to Harrell to local authorities. Investigators said they discovered numerous pornographic images of children on the CD, as well as other images on a computer they believe belonged to Harrell.
Harrell, 24, moved to Mississippi sometime after his eviction, and now is being held in isolation at the Clay County jail and is being held without bond. He is being represented by a public defender.
March 18th 2010 - 3:15PM