JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The sister of a Jacksonville man held on a list of child pornography charges is coming to her brother’s defense, saying she cannot believe the allegations against him.
Lisa Daise’s life was upended when she learned of the arrest of her brother, Lanard, last month. “I was shocked,” she said. “But I am not here to pass judgment and no one else can, either.”
She said her 39-year-old brother never showed any interest in deviant behavior, much less child pornography. In fact, she said he helped raise her children, adding that they were never harmed.
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“I know that I am going to get asked because he is around my kids a lot, and I know people are going to start thinking that, but no, my kids they loved their uncle,” she told News4Jax reporter Jenese Harris.
Lanard Daise has been in custody since Feb. 20 when, jail records show, he was arrested on 11 counts of child pornography and four additional counts of inducing children into sexual performances.
According to his arrest warrant, authorities began investigating him in January 2017 in response to a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, based on information received from the popular file-sharing service Dropbox.
Investigators later got a search warrant for Lanard Daise’s home and raided the residence in April. During the search, investigators spoke with the 39-year-old, who acknowledged occasionally viewing obscene material online, the warrant stated.
The heavily-redacted court documents described in graphic detail the sort of imagery investigators accuse Daise of keeping. The descriptions are too explicit to repeat.
While visiting her brother in jail, Lisa Daise said, he did not go out of his way to find the material. Instead, she said he told her it was emailed to him.
She said she hopes the allegations are false. If not? She wants him to tell the truth.
“If he’s found guilty, I want to know what happened,” she said. “I want him to be honest.”