Florida student arrested in Chicago on child porn charges

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Police in Florida have arrested a 19-year-old college student on charges of possessing child pornography after a nearly yearlong investigation.

Ethan Edlund, who attends Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, surrendered to authorities in Chicago on Wednesday afternoon, Daytona Beach police said Friday in a news release. He remained in custody in Illinois, pending an extradition hearing. Police said it’s not clear when he’ll be transported to Volusia County Jail.

Edlund has been charged with 20 counts of child pornography.

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Police in Daytona Beach began investigating him in September after receiving a tip from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children that someone in the area was using a file-sharing cloud service to store child pornography.

When investigators linked to the account, they found a video of a child involved in a sex act. The account was linked to various IP addresses that were traced to Edlund, the release said. Some of the internet addresses were assigned to Embry-Riddle, while others were traced to where Edlund was staying with family in Chicago, police said.

Ethan Edlund

In December 2020, a Volusia County judge signed a search warrant that allowed access to an email account linked to Edlund. There, investigators discovered over 1,200 pornographic videos, many of which showed children involved in a variety of sex acts.

Another search warrant in March allowed investigators to search Edlund’s dorm room, where officers seized a laptop and cellphone. The release said Edlund spoke briefly to officers but refused any further interviews after his Miranda rights were read.

A forensic analysis of the phone turned up more child pornography videos, and some of those are the basis for charges filed against Edlund, the release said.

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Additional charges are possible as the investigation continues, police said.

It was not immediately known whether Edlund has an attorney who could speak on his behalf.