Pensacola woman arrested on suspicion of possessing child pornography

Colin Warren-Hicks | Pensacola News Journal

A Pensacola woman has been arrested on suspicion of possessing child pornography that depicted underage children engaging in sexual activity.

Katie Gibbons, 20, was arrested Sunday and charged with 10 counts of obscene material possession. She was booked into the Escambia County Jail with a $250,000 bond and remained in custody as of Monday.

According to her arrest report, a Pensacola Police Department detective received cyber tips concerning child pornography from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in September 2018.

The detective’s investigation led him to a Tumblr account with more than 700 images of child porn. Investigators later linked Gibbons with the IP address used to send and receive messages via the account.

The PPD, Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security agents executed a search Oct. 10 at Gibbons' residence in the 7600 block of Stiller Lake Road where she lives with her family, the report stated.

Gibbons agreed to speak with investigators but what she told law enforcement was redacted from the report.

During the search, investigators seized 34 items from the residence, but no child pornography was discovered on any of the digital devices.

In addition to the evidence the cyber tips provided, Gibbons made statements to law enforcement in a recorded interview that provided further probable cause for her arrest, according to her arrest report.

Colin Warren-Hicks can be reached at colinwarrenhicks@pnj.com or 850-435-8680.