FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — An Alabama man made his initial appearance in a South Florida federal courtroom on Monday after federal agents said they found child sexual abuse videos on his electronic devices after he got off a cruise ship over the weekend.
Court documents state that agents took Samuel Wolfe Peterson, 22, of Huntsville, Alabama, into custody at Port Everglades on Saturday, soon after he got off the Majestic Princess.
Customs officers conducting a border search on Peterson’s cellphone and laptop found about 20 videos of victims as young as toddlers being raped and sexually abused, agents said.
They said Peterson admitted to having the illicit videos and admitted to sharing a “violent” video “depicting an infant” online.
He also admitted to receiving child sexual abuse material from about “four or five minors” aged 14 to 16 and admitted to meeting one of them for “sexual contact,” court documents state.
Peterson now faces two federal charges related to the possession and transportation of child sexual abuse material.
Records show Peterson appeared in Fort Lauderdale federal court on Monday morning, where a judge ordered that he be held ahead of a pre-trial detention hearing on Tuesday. He’s scheduled to be arraigned on Jan. 20.
As of Monday afternoon, records show Peterson was being held at the Broward Sheriff’s Office Main Jail facility on behalf of the U.S. Marshals Service.
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