CLAY COUNTY, Fla. — The Clay County Sheriff’s Office needs your help in an ongoing child exploitation investigation.
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Federal investigators arrested Evin Scott Young for multiple charges of producing child sexual abuse materials.
Now, they’re looking for more victims.
Neighbors told Action News Jax they were shocked to hear about this.
One woman who didn’t want to share her name said she didn’t suspect anything, but after learning about his arrest – she’s backtracking some of the conversations she’s had with him and his boyfriend.
“He kept addressing saying he would not do anything to my kids, and it was kind of strange to me, and I was like why do you keep saying that?” the anonymous neighbor said.
Young lived in the Cedar Bend area of Orange Park before he was arrested in October by federal agents.
“It hit close to home this time,” the neighbor said. “They had the road blocked off, so I know it was something serious, but I didn’t know how deep the situation was.”
Young is accused of producing child sexual abuse material and for enticing young boys.
“It’s scary because it was right downstairs,” the neighbor said.
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The federal complaint reveals the Clay County Sheriff’s Office was alerted of three cyber tips on social media: from Dec. 2023, Feb. 2024, and Mar. 2024.
“Every time you’re connected to the internet – whether it’s through Twitter, through Snapchat, whether it’s through Verizon or whoever your phone provider is – they have these algorithms that will detect these images. They are then sent to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children,” defense attorney Alex King said.
The documents reveal text communication between two different minors. The first one shows Young saying, “i don’t send to minors, but if you want to face time me I’m down.”
Young denies ever talking with minors in the court documents.
“I am shook, I am shook – I didn’t know all those accusations were going on with him,” the neighbor said.
The complaint also reveals how Young recorded several videos performing sexual acts with young boys.
Young even sent messages to the boys about the recordings saying, “I’ll send the video but please don’t get caught with it please.”
Defense attorney Alex King said while parents work to protect their kids, predators find ways to enter homes through the internet.
“It is unfortunately more common than people think,” King said.
Neighbors are disturbed.
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“It’s really really scary because it’s a lot of kids that play out here in this complex,” the neighbor said.
Young’s next court date is set for Mar. 24
Again, investigators believe more victims are out there so if you are a victim or know of any, reach out to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office.
Please contact Det. Ellis at rmellis@claysheriff.com or 904-264-6512 with any information.
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