The Gainesville Police Department arrested 19-year-old UF student Shalom Ishrael Barnes on Aug. 21 for distributing child sex abuse material online.
On Oct. 13, 2024, police say Barnes uploaded five videos “related to child exploitation” to an online chatroom. He used communication platform Discord to distribute and receive child pornography, according to the arrest report.
A warrant was issued for Barnes’ arrest after the IP address used to distribute the content was tracked to Barnes’ Gainesville apartment.
After his arrest, Barnes confirmed the Discord account and associated email belonged to him.
During questioning, Barnes said he initially created the Discord account while trying out for the UF basketball team, according to the arrest report.
Barnes said he remembers being a part of one of a server dedicated to child sex abuse material, but “didn’t remember sending the five videos in the group chat because it was almost a year ago,” the arrest report said.
According to the arrest report, Barnes admitted he last viewed child sex abuse material on Twitter two months ago, but he does not “do that stuff currently.”
Barnes is awaiting trial while in custody at the Alachua County jail. He has a $400,000 bond.
Contact Alexa Ryan at aryan@alligator.org
