JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A Jacksonville man was arrested and charged with 17 counts of child pornography after numerous months of investigating by police in Sarasota and with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
John Woolard, 37, was having inappropriate conversations online with someone he thought was a teenage girl, police said. The person on the other end was actually an undercover officer with the Sarasota Police Department.
Woolard's neighbors in a southside neighborhood said he and his wife were quiet neighbors. But, behind that quiet facade, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said Woolard had a deep, dark secret.
He admitted to spending hours in his house chatting with someone he thought was a 13-year-old girl, and he also admitted to soliciting her for sex and even sending her nude photos of himself.
However, Woolard wasn't communicating with a young teen; investigators said he was talking to a detective in Sarasota. According to a police report, he wrote a message to the undercover agent saying, "I want to treat you like my daughter and lover." Other messages were too explicit to reveal.
Once the Sarasota Police Department said they felt like they had enough evidence, detectives worked alongside the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office to make the bust. Investigators examined Woolard's computer hard drive and they said they found video after video of children being raped. They said that was enough evidence to charge Woolard with 17 counts of possession of child pornography, but he could face more charges, pending the outcome of the investigation.
He is now in a Sarasota county jail.
