DELAND, FL – A registered sex offender in the DeLand area has been charged with sexual battery on a child after a Volusia Sheriff’s Office investigation into a tip about child pornography revealed he abused a young girl. In addition to sexual battery, Wes Brough, 48 of DeLand, is also charged with failure to properly register as a sex offender and will be charged with possession of child porn.
During the investigation, detectives discovered photos and videos depicting a sexual performance by a child. Detectives with the Volusia Sheriff’s Office Child Exploitation Unit were alerted to the case by a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in early March. The material in the tip involved young female victims between ages 3 and 7 years old shown in sexually explicit situations. Brough was identified as the subject seen in several videos sexually abusing a 4 to 5-year-old girl.
A search warrant was executed April 6 at Brough’s home in DeLand. In interviews with detectives, Brough confessed to seeking and viewing child pornography and identified the girl shown with him in the videos. He stated that he had inappropriate conduct with the victim numerous times, the latest being April 2.
Brough registered on October 16, 2020, with the Volusia Sheriff’s Office as a sex offender. However, he failed to register vehicles he is authorized to drive. Detectives discovered he failed to update vehicle information on a homemade trailer on the Marsh Road property.
Brough was designated a sex offender after he was convicted May 7, 1997, of lewd and lascivious molestation on a child under 16. He has been required to register as a sex offender since then. Brough was arrested April 6 on the current charges. He remains held at the Volusia County Branch Jail with no bond allowed.
More charges are possible as detectives search for additional potential victims of sexual exploitation. Anyone who may have been a victim of this suspect or any similar case is urged to call the Child Exploitation Unit at (386) 323-3574.
Comments are closed.