A gay couple in Maryland has been arrested for possession of child pornography after police were tipped off by IKEA.
41-year-old Robert Sherer and 54-year-old Robert Books were arrested by police after IKEA, the place where he worked as a senior resolutions generalist, flagged a computer that was allegedly downloading child porn.
The company notified Swedish police about the grim discovery after confirming the accusation.
Police began investigating the couple in March.
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The Blaze reported:
“After an investigation by the Maryland Computer Crimes Unit, the couple’s home on North Calvert Street was searched, and police said they found more child pornography on several devices, including cell phones.
The two men are being held at the Baltimore City Detention Center and are scheduled for court hearings in May. Sherer was charged with five counts of child pornography possession, while Books was charged with three counts of child pornography possession.“
Neighbors expressed shock, telling WJZ-TV that their neighborhood is very quiet and everyone knows each other.
“I am super shocked,” said Kristin Carbone, who has two sons aged 7 and 8 years old.
“I saw some activity over there the other day but that is not something I thought of.”
She said she is now concerned about allowing the boys to walk to a nearby neighborhood park on their own.
“I mean I feel safe in the neighborhood, but it is definitely concerning because they’re at an age where they can go to the playground on their own, so it may make me think twice,” she added.
Meanwhile, other neighbors did not seem as worried for their safety.
“It’s a shock but the reality is if there was some sort of operation to figure out who they were, to catch them. They’ve been caught,” said Carol Westcott Baker, a woman who has lived in the neighborhood for 24 years.
“I know everybody on this side of the street, so I’m not worried,” she added.
“In my experience, it’s calm,” said Michael Walsh.
“You never know, but hopefully, this will be a one time or very, very rare.”
READ: NCAA’s First Openly Gay Wrestler Jailed for Distributing Child Porn
