Juan Yap Rivera Jr. (Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office)
A 20-year-old Florida man is facing nearly 200 felony charges for allegedly filming himself having sexual intercourse with his pet dog and possessing hundreds of pictures and videos of child sexual abuse material.
Juan Yap Rivera Jr. was taken into custody last Tuesday on 186 felony charges, including six counts of engaging in sexual contact with an animal, 79 counts of filming, distributing, or possessing images or videos of sexual activity with an animal, and 101 counts of possession of child pornography (10 or more images and content of images), court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
Rivera is a resident of Wimauma, which is located about 30 miles southeast of Tampa.
According to a press release from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, investigators first started looking into Rivera after receiving a cyber tip regarding his alleged illegal criminal activity. An investigative team followed up on the tip and deputies found a plethora of disturbing images and videos on his personal electronic devices, per the release.
Investigators say they took possession of Rivera’s cellphone and discovered “graphic images and videos depicting minors engaged in sexual activity and bestiality.” In addition to the child sexual abuse material, investigators say they also found “footage of his pet dog engaging in sexual acts with him.”
After the photos and videos were discovered, deputies seized Rivera’s phone in connection with the investigation, the release states. They were allegedly able to determine that Rivera had been using the social media app Snapchat and the encrypted messaging app Telegram to find and store the footage online.
“I want to commend our detectives for their tireless work in uncovering this case and bringing the perpetrator to justice,” Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement following the arrest. “This is a heinous case, and I want to remind the community we must continue to work together to prevent child exploitation and abuse. We must remain vigilant and report any suspicious behavior or activity to law enforcement.”
The sheriff’s office emphasized that the investigation into Rivera is ongoing and urged anyone with additional information relevant to his case or any other known instances of child exploitation to contact investigators at 813-247-8200.
The case was assigned to 13th Circuit Criminal Court Judge Catherine M. Caitlin. A probable cause affidavit filed in the case against Rivera was redacted Monday afternoon in preparation for public release.
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