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Welcome to the Polk County Sheriff's Office News Room, where the Public Information Officers (PIO's) post all of the information that they release to the news media. PIO's act as liaisons between news media organizations and the Sheriff's Office. The PIO's routinely release timely and accurate information and Crime Stoppers bulletins, and respond to routine and "breaking news" media inquiries. News releases and Crime Stoppers information can be found on this page.
PCSO's full-time Public Information Officers are Brian Bruchey, Carrie Horstman, and Alicia Manautou. The Public Information Officers can be reached by sending an e-mail collectively at PIOs@polksheriff.org.
The recent news releases sent out by the PIOs can be found here, and archived releases (older than 2017) can be found here.
Mar 14, 2019
Lakeland man has 300 additional counts of child pornography possession filed against him
Media Contact: Brian Bruchey, PIO
The 61-year-old man arrested on March 7, 2019 by detectives with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, now has 300 new counts of possession of child pornography following a search of his personal computer and electronic devices. Dr. Brian Birky was originally charged with nine counts of possession of child pornography when he was arrested last week.
During a forensic examination of Birky’s 160GB internal hard drive, 300 sexually explicit images depicting children between the ages 18-months to 11-year-olds.
The original charges against Birky were third-degree felonies, but given the number of total images found through the ongoing investigation, the additional charges are second-degree felonies.
“I couldn’t even begin to describe the images that were found on this man’s computer. It’s both sickening and very sad. The thorough work done by our detectives should ensure that he’s going to be in prison for a long, long time.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff
Birky had posted bond a day after his initial arrest. After the discovery of the 300 images on his computer, he was arrested again on Thursday, March 14, 2019.
Prior to his arrest on March 7th, Birky worked as the Executive Director for Public and Environmental Health Research at the Florida Industrial and Phosphate Research Institute in Bartow.
The initial investigation began following a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that child pornography files were associated with an IP address at his residence at 610 Peninsular Drive in Lakeland.