11th Circuit rules evidence justifies charges in Florida child pornography case

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that Tallahassee police reasonably relied on a CyberTip forwarded through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children when they obtained a warrant against Kevan Gibbs, charged with sexual exploitation of a minor and possession of child pornography. Judge Andrew Brasher wrote that the exclusionary rule exists to deter police misconduct, not to punish good-faith reliance on a credible source.

A trial judge had earlier excluded the images, finding the warrant affidavit too vague to establish probable cause since it never described the specific pictures found. The appeals panel disagreed, holding that a report from a trustworthy source, including an internet provider flagging suspected material through NCMEC, can itself establish probable cause without describing the images.

Judges Kevin Newsom and Paul Huck joined the opinion, which called NCMEC 'a particularly reliable source' with more than forty years of service as a repository for child pornography reports.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.