FORT COLLINS, Colo. – A months-long investigation led to the arrest earlier this month of a Fort Collins man who police say was found with approximately 700,000 files of child pornography.
Thomas Christopher Mares, 53, faces 60 counts of possession of child exploitative material, a class three felony. He was arrested March 15 by Fort Collins police.
The investigation started last July, when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children contacted police after discovering a computer hooked up to a Fort Collins-area network that contained sexually-explicit pictures of children, police say.
Further investigation led police to take “numerous” digital devices from Mares, and detectives found approximately 676,000 pictures and 18,000 videos showing children being sexually exploited, police said.
“Based on facts gathered during the investigation, detectives estimate that Mares had been collecting pornographic images of children for 10-15 years,” the Fort Collins Police Department said in a news release announcing the arrest.
Anyone with more information about Mares is asked to call Detective Jason Curtis at 970-416-2776 or Larimer County Crime Stoppers at 970-221-6868.
