Former Pensacola DCF attorney arrested after 100+ images, videos of child porn found
*Editor's Note: This story has been changed to reflect Alex Rigsby no longer works for Legal Services of North Florida.
Escambia County Sheriff's deputies arrested on Friday a Pensacola attorney who formerly worked for the Department of Children and Families after they allegedly linked him to hundreds of child pornography files.
Deputies arrested Alex Rigsby after an FBI task force officer with the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office received seven cyber-tip reports from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by a cloud management software company working with Verizon.
"Combined, the NCMEC cyber tips contained approximately 161 files believed to depict child sexual exploitation material and/or child sexual abuse material," Rigsby's arrest report says. "The reported Verizon cellphone account was seen storing CSEM and CSAM files within the Verizon cloud storage Synchronoss."
The Verizon data provided the name Wesley Rigsby, Alex's father, who lives in Charlotte County, Florida, but after a search warrant was served at Wesley's home, he told law enforcement that Alex remained on the family's phone plan.
In case you missed it: Cantonment teen wanted by ECSO for fatally shooting 16-year-old on Wishbone Road
A deputy with the ECSO contacted Synchronoss and requested certain data stored in the cloud. The deputy then received over 160 videos and images of children as young as toddlers being raped.
"Among the files of CSAM were personal images of Alex Rigsby and his live-in girlfriend," the report says. "These images and other personal images were taken in the timeframe of the NCMEC cyber tip and provide strong evidence Alex Rigsby's account was in his control and not 'hacked.'"
Rigsby, who was admitted into the Florida Bar in 2015, was a practicing attorney for the Legal Services of North Florida, a firm that provides civil legal services for low income individuals, until early February. LSNF declined to disclose to the News Journal why Rigsby left his position.
LSNF told the News Journal in a statement that they could not comment "on an active investigation," but did say that they "are deeply troubled by the allegations against Alex Rigsby."
"We are fully cooperating with the authorities in their investigation and are committed to upholding the values of integrity and accountability within our organization," LSNF told the News Journal.
LSNF also told the News Journal Rigsby worked as an attorney for the Department of Children and Families prior to his hiring at LSNF.
Rigsby is also a member of the Escambia-Santa Rosa Bar Association, however it appears his profile was removed from the member directory Monday afternoon.
Rigsby was released from Escambia County Jail Saturday on $1.2 million bond.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola attorney allegedly caught with child porn by ECSO deputies
