Lake City man accused of exchanging explicit photos with minor

Coty Kish (Columbia County Sheriff's Office)

LAKE CITY, Fla. – A 26-year-old Lake City man accused of exchanging explicit photos with a minor was arrested Monday inside the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office building following an interview with detectives.

Detectives started investigating Coty Kish after the Sheriff’s Office received a complaint from a person who went through a cellphone and discovered Snapchat messages between Kish and a minor that were deemed sexual in nature, according to an arrest report, which was redacted to protect the identity of the minor and the person who filed the complaint.

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The report states that detectives learned Kish and the minor, who disclosed being 15 years old to Kish, exchanged explicit photos on Snapchat. The investigation also revealed that Kish had been in contact with other people on Snapchat who are possibly minors, the report states.

When a detective spoke with the minor about the communication with Kish, the minor said they met on Instagram, the arrest report states. According to the report, Kish said he was a 16-year-old student who attended Branford High School, which is around 24 miles from Lake City. The report also states that although the two never physically met in person, they planned to meet up at the fair, but the minor was told by Kish not to bring any friends. The minor didn’t feel comfortable, so they never met, but they did exchange multiple photos that were sexual in nature, according to the report.

On Monday, Kish admitted to detectives at the Sheriff’s Office that he knew the minor was 15 and that he told the minor he was 16, according to the arrest report.

Following the interview with detectives, Kish was immediately arrested on charges of possessing or promoting child pornography, transmitting information harmful to minors, transmitting child pornography, and using a compute go solicit, lure or seduce.

As of Tuesday evening, Kish remained in the Columbia County jail on $90,000 bond.


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