Ralph Beltran: Child porn found by AT&T worker on Lake Worth man's computer, deputies say

Ralph Beltran called AT&T looking for help with an email problem.

But when a customer service technician remotely accessed his computer and found a folders on his desktop named "child pron" and "teen pornography," Beltran instead got a trip to jail.

Beltran, a 73-year-old registered sex offender in Lake Worth, now stands charged with 21 counts of child porn possession.

On Oct. 2, Beltran called the Internet service provider to report a problem with his email. He couldn't send or receive messages, according to a sheriff's office report:

A technician told Beltran to go online and download an AT&T program that would allow her to remotely access his computer from a call center in Goldsboro, N.C.

Beltran downloaded to program, giving the technician full access to his computer.

The technician then remotely accessed Beltran's computer – and noticed something was wrong.

She first found a folder on Beltran's desktop named "teen pornography." The folder had three preview pictures showing females exposing themselves in obscene ways, the report says.

"[The technician] said the females appeared to be 16 years old and younger," the report says.

Below that folder was another folder named "child pron." And a shortcut named "teen chat."

The last thing she saw was an email addressed to "god daughter," signed "loving, caring god father."

The AT&T employee finished troubleshooting Beltran's email problems and immediately shared the disturbing information with her supervisor, who called the sheriff's office.

Authorities got a search warrant to seize Beltran's Mac and moved in on Monday.

Beltran admitted to having a DVD with images of child pornography. He said he viewed the images a week before authorities showed up at his door.

Deputies asked to see a preview of the images on the DVD and Beltran agreed.

The DVD was already in the computer drive.

After they confirmed the pictures existed, deputies handcuffed Beltran and booked him in the Palm Beach County Jail, where he remained Tuesday in lieu of $63,000 bail.
 

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