MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. – Just weeks after 50-year-old Joseph Scott Mayes was arrested for enticing a teenager to send him nude photographs, he has been arrested again This time for what investigators discovered stored on his phone.
Acting on an initial ICAC (Internet Crimes Against Children) tip, Martin County Sheriff’s Office Special Victims Unit detectives tracked down Mayes in May after he sent money to a teenager in exchange for nude images. Following his initial arrest, detectives continued their investigation and located multiple images of child pornography on Mayes’ phone.
On Wednesday, members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, along with Martin County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division detectives, served a warrant on Mayes, who was located at a home in Loxahatchee. He was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Martin County Jail, where he faces 40 counts of possession of child pornography.
This arrest is the result of the continued vigilance and dedication of our Special Victims Unit detectives and ICAC investigators, who work tirelessly to identify, track, and hold accountable those who exploit children.