GPD Publishes Press Releases on ICAC Arrests of UF Students and Employee
Over this week, the Gainesville Police Department published press releases on the arrests of two University of Florida (UF) students and one UF employee.
Arthur Young:
On Tuesday, February 25, 2025, the Gainesville Police Department Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Division, with the assistance of GPD SWAT, served a search warrant at 1245 SW 11th Ave, APT 211; at the time no residents were home. The investigation was prompted after GPD received a CyberTip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). The CyberTip indicated that a Discord account holder was engaged “in sexualized conversation,” and soliciting “sexualized content” from a minor. Shortly after GPD received this CyberTip, Detective Montague, of the Gainesville Police Department, was contacted by a detective from Colorado. The detective advised that the child victim in the Discord CyberTip referenced, was a part of an investigation that they were conducting. The detective from Colorado confirmed the child victim was 12 years old.
As the investigation continued, Detective Montague solidified that the likely account holder was Arthur Young (H/M, 10-20-2002) who resides at the listed location. Detective Montague conducted legal process which revealed that Arthur Young was communicating with a number of reported minors, which he distributed his content to and/or received sexual content from (CSAM).
With the assistance of the University of Florida Police Department, Arthur Young was contacted on the evening of Tuesday, February 25, 2025. Arthur Young was told that law enforcement needed to speak with him regarding an investigation. Arthur Young immediately advised that he didn’t wish to speak without an attorney present.
Based on the exploitation investigated, Arthur Young was arrested for two counts of Transmission of Harmful Material to Minors, two counts of Soliciting a Child to Commit Illegal Sexual Acts, one count of Possession of Child Pornography and one count of Unlawful Use of a Two Way Communication Device.
A complete analysis of Arthur Young’s seized devices is still pending.
Andrew Sito:
On Thursday, February 27, 2025, the Gainesville Police Department Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Division, with the assistance of GPD SWAT, served a search warrant at 2777 SW Archer RD, APT VV240. The investigation was prompted after GPD received a CyberTip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). The CyberTip indicated that a cloud storage account holder uploaded and stored a video of child sexual abuse material to their account.
Further investigation by Detective Montague, of the Gainesville Police Department, revealed that the likely account holder was Andrew Sito (W/M, 09/09/2002) who resides at the listed location. During a post Miranda interview, Sito acknowledged that the suspect account was his old account which was deactivated, initially declining to say why. Sito would go on to acknowledge the account was deactivated for uploading child exploitation and that he possessed and uploaded the video in question. Sito stated that examiners would find evidence of more illegal content on his devices.
All of Sito’s electronic devices were seized and a complete forensic analysis is still pending. Sito was arrested and charged with one count of Possession of Child Pornography.
Jesse Armstrong:
On December 12, 2024, the Gainesville Police Department Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Division, with the assistance of the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, served a search warrant at 5022 SW 94th Street. The investigation was prompted after GPD received a CyberTip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). The CyberTip indicated that a Microsoft Bing user uploaded images of child sexual abuse material to their search engine.
Further investigation by Detective Montague, of the Gainesville Police Department, revealed that the subject who likely uploaded the abuse material was Jesse Armstrong (W/M, 06/10/1990) who resides at the listed location. During a post Miranda interview, Armstrong stated that no one had access to his internet at the time of the incident reported in the CyberTip. Armstrong revealed that he uses Microsoft Bing, approximately three times a week, to reverse image search pornography. When suggested that the images from the CyberTip, that were reverse image searched, were done by him because he didn`t think them to be juveniles, Armstrong stated, "it`s possible." When Armstrong was asked if he has ever reverse imaged searched content that would be age questionable, he stated, "Not intentionally". Armstrong asked several times that Detective Montague take him to jail despite there not being further evidence at the time to establish probable cause for Armstrong’s arrest.
All of Armstrong`s electronic devices were seized from his residence on this day and probable cause for his arrest could not be established. Over the course of the next two months, a forensic analysis of Armstrong`s electronic devices revealed that he was in possession of child sexual abuse material.
On Wednesday, February 26, 2025, Armstrong was taken into custody by Detective Montague. Armstrong was charged with 10 counts of Possession of Child Pornography of which eight files contained imagery of pre-pubescent children. Armstrong was also charged with three counts of Animal Cruelty for possessing content involving sexual activities with animals.
In all press releases, GPD stated "We encourage parents to have age appropriate conversations with their children about the dangers of the internet. Please be vigilant and aware of any social networking platforms your children may access. If you have any questions about this incident, please contact GPD Detective Donna Montague at: 352-393-7730 or montagueda@cityofgainesville.org."
Young and Sito were respectively released on bonds of $120,000 and $25,000.
Armstrong is still in jail with a $325,000 bond.
Young's LinkedIn account states he is a University of Florida (UF) student and is the Treasurer of the UF First Generation Organization.
Multiple news outlets have reported that Sito is also a UF student.
Several news outlets have reported that Armstrong was employed as a psychiatrist at UF.
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