TYLER, Texas (KLTV) – A Tyler man accused of possession of child pornography was arrested Monday after reportedly deleting thousands of digital files.
Austin Wayne Odell, 38, is charged with possession of child pornography and sexual abuse of a child. According to his affidavit, Texas Department of Criminal Investigation investigators found that he had downloaded child pornography onto personal devices and admitted to the crimes.
According to the document, the investigation into Odell began in February 2023 when a DPS investigator found that the suspect had downloaded approximately 99 videos and four images containing child pornography. However, none of this was found during the execution of a search warrant on August 31, 2023, the document states.
The document further stated that Odell had recently left town and taken his desktop computer with him. When the investigator learned of this, he scheduled an interview with the suspect on September 19. According to the document, during the interview, Odell admitted to downloading child pornography and deleting “a lot of things” from his desktop computer.
Odell’s computer was then seized, the document says. A technician found that 23,940 files had been deleted on the day of the first interview, and 3,376 on the day of the second interview. The software used to download the illegal material had also been deleted, the document says.
According to the affidavit, the computer contained the names of deleted files, including the name of the file that sparked the DPS officer’s investigation into Odell.
Based on this evidence, an arrest warrant was issued on July 25. Odell was arrested and taken to the Smith County Jail, where he remains held on bail totaling $600,000.
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