New details have emerged in the case of Mike Davis, the former 10TV meteorologist charged with possessing child pornography.
Records unsealed on Wednesday show that Yahoo!, where Davis maintained an email account, first flagged the case and refered it to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Davis was arrested in September and promptly fired by 10TV.
Authorities collected phones, tablets, and computers from Davis' home and office.
"Once we analyzed all of those devices, we identified in the neighborhood of 16,000 images that were downloaded over a six-year period of time," says Chief Deputy Rick Minerd at the Franklin County Sheriff's Office.
Minerd said the devices contained inappropriate and sexual pictures of children in "compromising" positions. He adds that all of the images originated elsewhere.
"None of these images are of hands-on victims where Mike was assaulting any young children," Minerd says.
Minerd says there's also no evidence Davis shared them with others.
"For the most part these images were downloaded and then sent to him at his personal email addresses," he says, "I assume so he could view those wherever he was at."
A Franklin County jury indicted Davis in October on four counts, including "pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor," a second-degree felony that carries a maximum eight years in prison and a $15,000 fine. Davis has pleaded not guilty.
A trial is scheduled to begin next month.
