INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — What one Sebastian man called “art,” investigators called child porn when they arrested him on possession charges.
Norman John Achin is in jail without bond after authorities say they found more than 100 images of child pornography on his phone; he told investigators he viewed the images as art, not porn.
The Indian River County Sheriff’s Office arrested Achin, 50, of the 700 block of Wimbrow Drive, Sebastian, on June 30. He faces 12 felony counts of child pornography possession.
The Sheriff’s Office received information from Cybertip about an email sent in March that appeared to contain three images of child porn. That email had Norman Achin’s name associated with the account, according to the arrest report.
Upon further investigation, Achin told authorities that he had begun looking at child porn images when he was 23 or 24 years old and that about 9 months ago he began uploading images to two websites, earning about $10.
“Norman denied looking at the pictures of nude children for sexual gratification,” the report states. “He stated that he views the pictures as art.”
When asked, Achin said “that deep down he thinks he knew it was wrong,” according to the report.
Two of the three images attached to the email that prompted investigation depicted a young girl between the ages of 5 and 7; the third was of a girl between the ages 11 and 13.
Achin initially told authorities that he is the owner of the email address but that AOL had closed the account several months prior without explanation. He told investigators that he had not seen the three images before.
Computer forensic investigators found at least 100 other images on Achin’s cell phone, according to the arrest report.
Additional charges are pending further examination of Achin’s phone, computer and other electronics.
