Worship Leader Fired After Hundreds of Photos, Videos of Child Porn Found on Computer
After sorting through thousands of videos and images including some showing him in virtual sex acts with young girls on a laptop he accidentally left at his church in May, police arrested Chad Robison, 36, former worship leader at Seven Rivers Presbyterian Church in Lecanto, Florida, on Thursday.
A release from the Citrus County Sheriff's Office said Robison was charged with three counts of lewd and lascivious exhibition, specifically for intentionally masturbating live over a computer online service knowing that the transmission is viewed by victims who are younger than 16 years old. He is also charged with one count of knowingly promoting sexual performance by a child, and three counts of video voyeurism for own use.
Police say Robison had victims in multiple states including New York and are looking at other victims potentially in Canada.
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Robison, who is from Hernando, worked at Seven Rivers Presbyterian Church as the worship director from 2011 to 2017. Police say the former worship director's illicit activities were only discovered because his colleagues at the church were trying to play a prank on him with the laptop he left behind. After discovering the inappropriate material however, church officials alerted the police and Robison was fired.
"On Thursday, May 11, we received allegations about material found on the personal computer of our music director, Chad Robison. Prior to May 11 we had no knowledge or suspicion of improper conduct by Mr. Robison. We investigated these allegations and dismissed Mr. Robison from employment at Seven Rivers Presbyterian Church on Monday, May 15 and banned him from our campus," the church said in a statement.
"Simultaneously, we informed the Citrus County Sheriff's Office of what we had discovered. It should be noted that Mr. Robison was an employee of our church and not of our school. Seven Rivers Presbyterian Church remains committed to full cooperation with the Citrus County Sheriff's Office in this matter," the church added.
Since the find was reported in May, detectives said they've been sorting through more than 3,000 videos and over 350,000 pictures that were found on Robison's laptop. In addition to those items showing young girls in virtual sex acts with Robison, police say he also filmed young girls who visited his home while they were using his restroom without their knowledge.
"Our detectives have already discovered several out of state victims including from Canada and New York and have made contact with the appropriate jurisdictions. Videos that our agency has obtained go back several years all the way through to just a couple of months ago," police said.
"It's going to be a very difficult and long process to find those who have been victimized by this man," Major Crimes Capt. Brian Spiddle said.
Sheriff Mike Prendergast added, "I commend the detectives that have been working on this case. We've just scratched the surface and already we know there are several victims out there. I'm so proud of this unit and what they've done to bring charges against this very sick man."
Parents, church parishioners and anyone who believes they might've been victimized by Robison are being asked to call 352-726-1121 to speak with major crimes.
