STUART — A Palm Beach Gardens man is facing charges related to possessing child pornography and an incident involving a Stuart girl, according to a recently-released arrest affidavit and court records.
Phoenix Angelo Monserrate, 23, of Palm Beach Gardens, was charged with five counts of promoting sexual performance by a child, 67 counts of possession of child pornography with 10 images or more, and possession of images of sexual activity with an animal, according to the Martin County Clerk of Courts.
Monserrate was taken into custody on May 22, according to his arrest affidavit. He is in the Martin County Jail on $2.6 million bond.
At the Stuart Police Department on Sept. 11, 2024 an officer met with a girl, and a person who’s relation to the girl was redacted in the arrest affidavit. The person with the girl requested law enforcement to conduct an investigation because the girl had been acting odd recently.
The Treasure Coast Child Protection Team did an interview with the girl who said she had been talking with a man on Chat IB, an online chat website, and on Snapchat, but she did not know his name. She said a week prior, she and the man had arranged to meet and have sex in exchange for money.
The girl gave the man directions to her home in Stuart, where she let him in her room through her window. She told officers the man recorded a portion of the sexual encounter on his cell phone, according to arrest records.
An officer reviewed the conversation between the girl and the man on Snapchat, which only showed saved items including three videos sent to the man by the girl. The officer took over the girl’s Snapchat account on Oct. 1, 2024 and continued talking to the man.
The officer began talking with the man on TextNow, an internet text messaging and calling service. The man, thinking he was talking to the girl, repeatedly asked for photos of her and stating he wanted to “train” her sexually, according to the records.
The officer said in the affidavit he continued to talk with the man throughout October 2024 and was approved for a search warrant that was served to Snapchat electronically. The search warrant from Snapchat came back on Nov. 12, 2024. Relevant photos, videos, subscriber information, and IP address information was recovered.
Officers used the man’s cell phone number to find an address in Palm Beach Gardens. They found Monserrate and compared his Florida drivers license photo to a photo he sent over Snapchat when he thought he was talking to the girl.
Officers also found Monserrate’s 1997 silver Toyota 4-Runner had entered Martin County on Sept. 2, 2024, consistent with when the girl told them he met with her to have sex.
Olivia Franklin is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Olivia on X @Livvvvv_5 or reach her by phone at 317-627-8048. E-mail her at olivia.franklin@tcpalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Man faces child pornography possession charges in relation to incident with Stuart girl
Reporting by Olivia Franklin, Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers
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