An Inverness man faces numerous child pornography-related charges following an undercover sting that spanned two counties.
The Citrus County Sheriff's Office was contacted by the Osceola County Sheriff's Office about an undercover sting targeting people using the Internet to sexually exploit children.
According to an arrest report, Osceola County authorities advised Citrus County authorities they were in contact with Dale Eugene Heath Jr, 33, of Inverness, as Heath was sending pictures and videos depicting child sexual abuse to an undercover Osceola County Sheriff's deputy.
A Citrus County Sheriff's deputy took over the account and began communicating with Heath. The deputy assumed the name Kyle and posed as a 12-year-old.
On March 29, the deputy logged into the account and sent the defendent a message on a Yahoo! account, but the suspect never replied.
On April 13, the deputy logged into the account again and saw the suspect was online. The deputy sent the suspect a message. The deputy and the suspect allegedly engaged in an explicit conversation and the suspect displayed himself to the deputy, the arrest report stated. The suspect allegedly sent pictures of child sexual abuse,as well.
The deputy went to Heath's home and interviewed him. The deputy said Heath originally denied the accusations, but admitted to the charges, according to the arrest report, after being shown a screen capture exposing himself.
Detectives say Heath had five grams of marijuana on him when he was booked.
Heath was charged with six counts of knowingly transmitting child pornography, one count of using the Internet to seduce or solicit child, one count of possession of photo or video with sexual conduct by a child, one count of lewd and lascivious exhibition to a victim over 16 and introducing contraband into a detention facility.
Heath's bail is $58,000.