Tampa Police detectives began conducting an investigation following a CyberTip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) regarding multiple files of child pornography, including some depicting the sexual battery of a child.
On May 11, 2021, detectives executed a search warrant at 16227 Enclave Village, Apartment 207. Multiple computer devices were recovered belonging to Daniel R Hemphill, black male, (7/4/1987), who advised post-Miranda he was the only person with access to his cell phone and that facial recognition is required to unlock the device. The items were transported to The Tampa Police Cyber Crimes Lab for forensic review.
During the forensic review, over 100 images constituting child pornography were recovered. Many of the images contained on Hemphill’s device depict various forms of sexual battery of a child. Based on the admission that no one other than the defendant has access to his phone, facial recognition is required to unlock the device, and the number of images and videos located on the device during the forensic examination, a warrant was issued for Hemphill’s arrest.
On Monday, May 24, 2021 Hemphill surrendered himself at Orient Road Jail. He was charged with 100 counts of Possession of Child Pornography (10 or more images).
Any suspicion of child sexual exploitation can be reported to your local police, your Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's CyberTipline online at https://report.cybertip.org or by calling 800.843.5678. For resources and tips for parents and kids, visit NCMEC’s NetSmartz website at www.netsmartz.org or the ICAC Task Force website at https://www.icactaskforce.org.