PALM BAY, Fla. -- A Palm Bay man is being held in jail without bond, accused of downloading child pornography. But agents first raided his neighbor's house.
Investigators said Juan Gonzalez stole his neighbor's WiFi signal to download the porn.
When federal agents went to a Palm Bay home off of Malabar Road with a search warrant for child porn, they were convinced they had the right house.
They said they had an IP address, and proof that the pornography was being downloaded using the man's wireless Internet connection.
They quickly realized they were wrong. The man had no child porn.
Agents said they discovered later that a man living next door was downloading the porn.
Authorities said Gonzalez had been tapping into his neighbor's unsecured wireless Internet.
One resident in the neighborhood expressed surprise when told about the incident.
"I don't know how to describe it. How could you do something like that?" said neighbor Ron Riggin.
Agents said it took two months to put together their complicated case against Gonzalez.
They said they eventually tracked him down at another Palm Bay home.
According to court records, Gonzalez admitted to downloading the pornography on computers for more than 10 years.
The records said he told authorities he was relieved he was caught because he knew it was over.
Agents said they found more than 3,500 images of child pornography and that many of the children were under the age of 12.
Gonzalez is in jail with no bond.
