For Immediate Release
February 7, 2024
 
COTTONDALE, Fla. – The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) arrested Mark Swearingen, 31, and Mackenzie O’Bryan, 20, of Cottondale, on 11 felony counts of possession of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), along with separate additional charges. The arrest is the result of FDLE’s statewide initiative to locate and arrest criminals sharing files depicting the sexual abuse of children.
 
The investigation began in November when FDLE received several cybertips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), alerting agents to files depicting the sexual abuse of children being uploaded to an online storage platform. Through investigative methods, agents identified Swearingen as the account user and his residence as the location of the files.
 
FDLE agents served a warrant at Swearingen’s residence and seized several electronic devices. A preliminary forensic analysis located multiple files depicting the sexual abuse of children, some as young as 1 year old.
 
Upon further analysis, agents also found a video depicting O’Bryan engaging in a sexual act with an animal. O’Bryan was charged with an additional count of sexual contact with an animal, and Swearingen was charged with an additional count of possession of an image/video depicting sexual contact with an animal.
 
Swearingen and O’Bryan were arrested and booked into the Jackson County Jail on Feb. 6. The case will be prosecuted by the Office of State Attorney, 14^th Judicial Circuit.
 
The investigation was conducted by FDLE’s Panama City Field Office, with assistance from Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations.
 
Please visit the FDLE website to review tips for keeping your children safe online at https://www.secureflorida.org/SF/Family-Safety/BPParents.
 
For Further Information Contact:
FDLE Office of Public Information
Info@fdle.state.fl.us