Nathan Joel Arledge
A Florida man pleaded guilty on Wednesday in federal court to possessing unregistered firearms and sexual exploitation of minors. The related state case against defendant Nathan Joel Arledge, 29, is ongoing with a hearing set for Nov. 29.
According to the federal plea agreement, he had 100 depictions of child pornography on his phone — 50 videos and 50 videos. The children depicted in the material were even infants as young as “0-1,” documents stated.
They also said Arledge, resident of Melbourne, Florida, had an unregistered short-barreled rifle and three unregistered silencers.
“This is such a stupid way to throw away your life,” he told investigators, according to the federal plea agreement.
Authorities said law enforcement got a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, involving Arledge’s Internet Protocol (IP) address. Investigators said they tracked him down.
The feds executed a search warrant at Arledge’s home and found child pornography of young children, according to documents. They also said the suspect had fake law enforcement credentials for federal agencies, though they did not charge him with anything like impersonation of a law enforcement officer. According to documents, these credentials were license plates for the FBI and Department of Homeland Security. Authorities called these “counterfeit,” but they said in footnotes that the FBI plate was assigned to a marked unit in Washington D.C. and the DHS plate was assigned to a Customs and Border Patrol vehicle.
“During the investigation, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Arledge’s residence where they found electronics, multiple firearms, ammunition, silencers, flash bangs, potassium nitrate, magnesium flakes, gun powder, tactical clothing, body armor, law enforcement insignia, and counterfeit credentials for Homeland Security Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” the U.S. DOJ wrote in their press statement. “A forensic examination of Arledge’s cellphone uncovered numerous visual depictions of child sexual abuse material depicting young children. During an interview with law enforcement, Arledge admitted that he had made the machine guns, multiple silencers, and downloaded the child sexual abuse material despite knowing both were illegal.”
There was an AR-15 style rifle in his master bedroom, documents said.
Documents said Arledge was the user “kinkytaboo93” on the Kik messenger app.
According to the plea agreement, Arledge admitted to investigators in a post-Miranda interview that he had the KIK account, and that he obtained and looked at child pornography.
“He also authored an apology letter to the victims of child pornography and read it aloud during the interview,” authorities wrote. “The Defendant provided the password to his phone and work computer.”
According to state documents, Arledge said had been watching such material since he was 14 years old.
Both sides reached the federal plea agreement in a filing dated Oct. 11. It was accepted on Wednesday. Records say the sentencing is set for Jan. 11, 2023, though the DOJ press statement said there is no sentencing scheduled yet.
A hearing in Arledge’s related state case for child pornography charges and a firearms charge is set for Nov. 29. His attorneys of record did not immediately respond to a Law&Crime request for comment.
[Mugshot via Brevard County Sheriff’s Office]