Sex Offender Arrested for Child Pornography

On January 5, an informant reported to detectives that he had received images on his cell phone depicting young boys engaged in sex acts.  The sender of the images was identified as a registered sex offender named Joel Drake, 55, of Beaverdam, and it was arranged to have the suspect contact a juvenile male named “Steve”.  “Steve” was actually a detective posing as a teenaged boy, and numerous text messages were exchanged between Drake and the detective.  The content of many of the messages was sexually explicit, and the suspect sent the detective pornographic photos of young males and agreed to meet him in person.  On the afternoon of January 6, detectives from the Fredericksburg Police Department met Drake at his place of employment in Spotsylvania County.  After further investigation, Drake was arrested for distribution of child pornography and use of a communication device to solicit for a sex offense.  Drake was incarcerated at the Rappahannock Regional Jail under no bond.

Permalink: http://news.fredericksburg.com/citypolice/2011/01/07/sex-offender-arrested-for-child-pornography/