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By Times staff writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 15, 2001
PALM HARBOR -- Thomas Patrick Reusch, 33, of Palm Harbor was charged Wednesday with possession and promotion of child pornography, according to jail records.
Investigators seized a computer at Reusch's home at 2755 Curlew Road, No. 56, as well as about 100 floppy disks, said Rick Morera, spokesman for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. They also seized several photographs, which had been printed out on the computer, depicting a pre-pubescent girl engaged in sexual activity, according to the arrest affidavit. Morera said Reusch was distributing child pornography over the Internet. In Reusch's pickup, agents found a fake police badge and handcuffs, a scanner with police frequencies programmed into it and children's toys, Morera said. The arrest was part of an ongoing joint investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and U.S. Customs into child pornography, Morera said. Reusch was being held in the Pinellas County Jail Wednesday evening in lieu of $30,000 bail.