Valeriano Torres of West Kendall, Florida was arrested this past week after he was accused of storing child pornography on his computer, news sources report. Torres, 28, was booked into the Miami-Dade County Jail on 15 counts of possessing child pornography. It is unclear whether he has qualified for bail bond.
Torres works as an artist at Romero Britto's Art Gallery, located on Lincoln Road in Miami. Prior to taking the position at the gallery, Torres worked as at the celebrity-owned Miami Beach Studio. Torres' online social networking profile says he contributed to the development of exhibits at the Miami Art Museum; however, a spokesperson for the institute said Torres only worked on the project as a part-time contractor who helped put together the exhibits. It is unclear how this recent arrest will affect his position at Romero Britto's Art Gallery. The gallery has thus far remained mum on the arrest.
Police began investigating Torres after an anonymous tipster indicated that Torres had sent pornographic images of children using an AOL email address. Detectives acquired a search warrant and searched Torres's home earlier this week. During the search, the detectives found 15 images depicting children in sexual situations stored on Torres computer equipment, sources say. According to an arrest report, the images showed young boys involved in sexual situations with other young boys and adult men.
Normally after child pornography is discovered, investigators work to find out who the children in the images are. It is not clear whether Torres is suspected to have actually taken any of the photos, or if the children are even from the South Florida area.
In other news, Duraine Ashley, a Riviera Beach health care aide, was arrested Wednesday after she used a client's personal information to make a fraudulent credit card account, reports say. Ashley, 26, was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail on charges of criminal use of personal identification information and grand theft. It is unclear whether she qualified for bail bond. It is also not yet known whether she has hired a lawyer.
According to reports, Ashley worked as a health care aide for the victim between January and July 2012. The victim, who was not identified by name in public reports, apparently lives in Boca Raton. At some point, Ashley allegedly used the victim's personal information to open a Discover credit card account without telling the victim. Ashley used a fake address in North Carolina to set up the account, reports indicate.