Crime & Safety

72-Year-Old Man Uses Restaurant's Free Wi-Fi To View Child Porn

Charles Turton Cook was booked into Southwest Detention Center at 4:50 a.m. Dec. 10 on suspicion of sending/possessing obscene matter.

A man who allegedly used free Wi-Fi at a Menifee eatery to view child pornography on his laptop has been arrested, according to authorities.

The incident was reported Monday, Dec. 9 at 9:45 p.m. at Menifee’s Countryside Marketplace on Haun Road.

According to Sgt. Glenn Williams of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, Menifee police responded to a report from a customer that an elderly man was viewing child pornography on his laptop.

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“Deputies contacted the suspect inside the restaurant and confirmed he was viewing child pornography utilizing the restaurant’s open Wi-Fi,” Williams reported.

That suspect was 72-year-old Charles Turton Cook, the sergeant confirmed.

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A subsequent investigation and search of Cook’s residence found he was in possession of “numerous digital photographs depicting young male children on his laptop computer,” Williams reported.

Jail records show Cook was arrested at 3:45 a.m. Dec. 10. The arrest location was listed as 30340 Haun Road in Menifee, which is the address of a Starbucks with free Wi-Fi housed inside a Super Target located at the Countryside Marketplace.

Cook was booked into Southwest Detention Center at 4:50 a.m. Dec. 10 on suspicion of sending/possessing obscene matter and his bail was set at $5,000, according to jail records. Cook was released from custody the same day, the records show. He is due to appear in court Feb. 4, 2014.


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