Newberry man arrested for allegedly soliciting child pornography

Officers arrested 29-year-old Newberry resident Simon Flores Wednesday morning on charges of possessing and soliciting child pornography.

The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office received a tip on Oct. 2 that Flores had threatened to commit mass murder via direct message on Instagram. He then used the platform to exchange sexually explicit material with a minor, according to the arrest report.

Law enforcement obtained Flores’ message history from Meta Platforms, which owns Instagram, on October 3.

The arrest report said the threatening messages began on Sept. 18, when Flores wrote: “I’ve been feeling very dark and depressed lately. “I want to commit mass murder.”

That same day, he reportedly began sending messages to another Instagram user saying he wanted to have sexual intercourse with underage women.

On September 26, Flores began exchanging sexually explicit messages with a 15-year-old boy. She reportedly sent a nude photo to the Instagram user and asked them to do the same.

ACSO officers used a federal search warrant to enter Flores’ home on Wednesday and arrested him on charges of obscene communications and possession of child pornography.
Contact Natalie Kaufman at: [email protected]. Follow him on X @Nat_Kauf.