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TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced a Destin man has been arrested on charges of promoting the sexual performance of a minor and possession of child pornography. John Forrest surrendered to law enforcement officers late last night after the Attorney General’s CyberCrime Unit requested a judge issue a warrant for his arrest.

During a routine undercover investigation online, CyberCrime investigators discovered numerous images of child pornography and traced the images back to Forrest’s computer. A CyberCrime investigator also determined Forrest, 38, was making the images available for distribution. A search warrant was executed on Forrest’s home with assistance from the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, and nine computers were seized. Forensic analysis confirmed that numerous images of child pornography were on the computers, including some images of children appearing to be no more than two years old.

Forrest was booked into the Okaloosa County Jail last night and will be charged with three counts of promoting the sexual performance of a minor, a second-degree felony, and 20 counts of possession of child pornography, which will be enhanced to a second-degree felony. Additional charges may be added at a later date. Forrest was released from custody this morning on $30,000 bond and must wear a GPS monitoring device as a condition of his release.