Nassau man arrested on child porn charges, accused of secretly recording minors in his Yulee home

A man who worked at NAS Jacksonville as a machinist is accused of secretly recording minors. He’s also facing several charges related to child porn.

Action News Jax obtained the 71-page indictment against 36-year-old Charles Cory Thornton, who was arrested and charged with transporting porn over the internet.

“A devil,” said Valerie McCormick of Thornton, who is her neighbor.

“I mean, he lives like two doors down and I have two teenage girls and I couldn’t have imagined that,” McCormick said.

The disturbing details are outlined in the indictment. Thornton admitted to downloading hundreds of images and videos of children being sexually exploited and also recording at least three minors with a hidden camera inside the Yulee home he shared with his father.

“I have two girls of my own and they ... ride their bicycles, their four wheelers in the back, and you don’t know if he’s watching them,” McCormick said.

The FBI claims Thornton admitted to inappropriately touching his then-fiancée’s 13- or 14-year-old daughter in a swimming pool in 2009.

The complaint also said he recorded video of that same girl changing in the bathroom using a small camera hidden in a digital clock in his bathroom. Investigators said Thornton produced multiple videos of the victim over six to 12 months and one of the victim’s friends was also caught with very little or no clothes on.

Agents said when they questioned Thornton at his job at NAS Jax, he admitted to being a "pedophile" and agreed he was sexually attracted to children.

He faces potential cumulative penalties of not less than 45 years, up to 140 years, in federal prison, and a potential life term of supervision, according to officials.

Cox Media Group