CLAY COUNTY, Fla. — A Clay County judge’s son has been arrested and charged with 15 counts of possessing child pornography.
The arrest occurred on Thursday and followed a search warrant being executed at the judge’s home earlier this year.
The heavily redacted arrest report details how local and state investigators pieced together a case against James Reagan Kallaher, who now faces 15 counts of possession of photographs depicting sexual performance by a child.
Those redactions are largely due to Kallaher’s father, Judge James E. Kallaher, a circuit court judge in Clay County.
State law exempts most personal information of judges and their family members.
From the early stages of the investigation potential conflicts were identified, when a Clay County detective received several CyberTipline reports from the National Center for Missing an Exploited Children.
Those reports geolocated to the suspect’s home.
Upon realizing the address belonged to the family member of a local judge, the detective handed the case off to FDLE Jacksonville.
A search warrant for the home was obtained on January 21st and investigators 15 photos depicting child sexual abuse.
According to the report, investigators determined the younger Kallaher had been in possession of some of the materials as far back as November of 2023, but may have been involved in illegal online activity as far back as November 2022.
A local attorney, who asked not to be named as they practice law in Clay County, told Action News Jax it’s not uncommon for cases involving the relatives of judges to be taken up by the Office of Statewide Prosecution to avoid any potential conflicts.
The case is being handled by the Office of Statewide Prosecution and we reached out to the Florida Attorney General’s Office for more information.
We also contacted Judge Kallaher for comment and are awaiting a response.
The suspect in this case is being held on a $225,000 bond and has been ordered to have no contact with anyone under the age of 18 and no access to the internet.
In total, he could face 75 years in prison and $75,000 in fines.
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