July 14, 2019

WALTON COUNTY, Fla— A 62-year-old Argyle man is charged with 20 counts of possession of child pornography after a nine-month-long investigation by Walton County investigators.

Starting in November 2018, Walton County Sheriff’s Office received numerous tips via the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children involving child exploitation.

WCSO Special Victims Unit quickly identified the suspect as Terrell Lee Burdette, 62, of Argyle Railroad Avenue.

During the investigation, a search warrant from a social media platform used by Burdette revealed numerous images depicting children engaged in sexual conduct. An additional search warrant returned from Google Inc. regarding two separate email accounts used by Burdette contained multiple images depicting children engaged in sexual conduct.

Rhode Island State Police contacted WCSO and said between May 1, 2019, and June 3, 2019, an undercover persona was established on social media by an undercover officer. During that time, Burdette initiated contact with the undercover persona who informed him they were 13 years old. The conversation switched to text messages at which time Burdette sent several pictures of his genitals and asked the undercover persona to engage in sexual activity.

On July 14, 2019, a search warrant was executed at 43 Argyle Railroad Avenue. A search of Burdette’s cellular device produced 20 images/videos depicting children engaged in sexual conduct. In addition, 10 images/videos of children engaged in sexual conduct were found to be sent through text message and other applications to other subjects not yet identified.

Burdette was charged with 20 counts of possession of child pornography, 10 counts of allowing distribution of child pornography through an electronic device, use of a computer to solicit a child, 10 counts of transmitting harmful material to a minor and use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony.

He was transported to the Walton County Jail and is currently awaiting first appearance.