WALTON COUNTY, Fla. – A Michigan man has been extradited to Florida and is being held on a $200,000 bond after investigators said he sent sexually explicit images and videos of himself to a 13-year-old.
Austin Jeffrey Alden, 19, of Mason, Michigan, was booked into the Walton County Jail on Oct. 3 following an investigation that began four months earlier.
The case started June 3 when the child’s parents discovered concerning messages while checking their child’s phone, according to the Walton County Sheriff’s Office. After finding inappropriate communications and images, they contacted deputies.
Investigators said the communications began through an online platform and later moved to text messages.
The Sheriff’s Office’s Criminal Investigations Bureau Cyber Crimes Unit identified Alden, who was 18 at the time the investigation began, as the adult communicating with the child.
Following a digital investigation, authorities obtained a warrant charging Alden with using a computer to solicit a child, using a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony and six counts of transmitting harmful material to a child.
Alden was subsequently arrested in Eaton County, Michigan. He waived extradition and was transported to Walton County to face the charges.
Investigators said Alden sent the 13-year-old sexual images and videos of himself. The Sheriff’s Office has not released additional details about the communications to protect the child’s identity.
Alden remained incarcerated in the Walton County Jail on a $200,000 bond at the time the Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest.
Walton County Sheriff Michael Adkinson said the distance between Florida and Michigan would not prevent investigators from pursuing suspects accused of targeting children in the county.
“If you victimize a child in our county, we will come for you no matter where you live,” Adkinson said.
The Sheriff’s Office said the investigation remains active.