Legal professional who represented victims of sexual abuse busted for possession of kid porn, feds say – Regulation Officer

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – An legal professional, who represented victims of sexual abuse, was caught downloading youngster pornography, federal authorities mentioned. Michael T. Dolce, 53, was recognized because the legal defendant. He had beforehand pushed to finish statutes of limitations for youngster sexual battery circumstances, in accordance with WPBF.

The U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace for the Southern District of Florida mentioned in a press assertion final Wednesday, March 29, “A 53-year-old West Palm Seaside licensed legal professional has been arrested with possession of kid pornography. Michael T. Dolce will seem in a West Palm Seaside federal court docket tomorrow for his preliminary look.”

U.S. Legal professional Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida and Particular Agent in Cost Jeffrey B. Veltri of the FBI, Miami Area Workplace, introduced the costs in opposition to Dolce.

“In accordance with the filed legal grievance affidavit, on March 15, FBI brokers executed a search warrant at Dolce’s West Palm Seaside residence. They found Dolce actively downloading youngster pornography utilizing peer-2-peer software program. Almost 2000 photos and movies of kid pornography have been recovered from his gadgets,” the press launch mentioned.

In accordance with court docket paperwork cited by Law&Crime, “One sub-folder, titled ‘sweetie,’ featured an addition[al] sub-folder titled ‘Candy-Pedo Stars,’ which featured youngster erotica and youngster pornography photos of a single prepubescent minor feminine sufferer with the added watermark ‘PEDO STARs.’”

“FBI digital forensic examiners and filter groups performed a evaluation of the SAMSUNG,” investigators wrote. “As of three/24/23, FBI personnel had recognized one-thousand nine-hundred ninety-seven photos and 5 movies of kid pornography based mostly upon identified hash values for beforehand recognized youngster pornography.”

The arrest affidavit doesn’t say what led brokers to Dolce. The kid porn photos featured principally ladies, many youthful than 12-years-old, with some as younger as 5, WPBF reported.

Dolce was employed by the regulation agency Cohen Milstead. He ran their “Sexual Abuse, Sex Trafficking, and Domestic Abuse team.” He has since been fired, in accordance with Law&Crime.

“The agency is shocked and saddened by these appalling allegations,” they informed WPBF. “Michael Dolce was terminated and is now not affiliated with the agency. We’re centered on attending to the wants of our shoppers and workers, and persevering with to cooperate totally with the investigation.”