News and Investigations

A Winter Haven man was arrested on Wednesday, June 30, 2021, by PCSO Computer Crimes detectives for possessing over 600 images and videos containing child pornography.

The investigation began when PCSO received a tip about 29-year-old Taylor Stracqualursi having images on his iPhone that looked like children being sexually battered. Before deputies arrived at his house on Lake Sears Drive, Stracqualursi did a factory reset on his iPhone, after battering a victim in the home who was trying to take the phone away from him.

During a search of the residence, detectives seized computers, laptops, external hard drives, flash drives, and cell phones. During an on-scene preview of one of the suspect's computers, detectives located 617 images depicting child pornography of children and babies between the ages of six months old to 12 years old.

He was booked into the Polk County Jail and charged with battery domestic violence (M1), tampering with evidence (F3), and 617 counts possession of child pornography - enhanced (F2). He is unemployed.

The felony child porn charges are upgraded (enhanced) if the suspect possesses 10 or more images of child pornography and at least one image contains any of the following criteria:

Image depicts a child younger than the age of 5
Image depicts sadomasochistic abuse of a child
Image depicts sexual battery of a child
Image depicts sexual bestiality involving a child
Any movie involving a child

"We are conducting a thorough investigation to see where this suspect got the child pornography, who he distributed it to, and if he's sexually abused any children to whom he's had access. The sheer volume of this disgusting collection of images showing children being raped and sexually violated is horrible. His actions are vile and demented, and he needs to stay locked up." - Grady Judd, Sheriff