[PHOTO CREDIT: Lake County Sheriff’s Office]
[Original Publish Date: 02/05/21]
LEESBURG, Florida — The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has arrested a Leesburg man for possessing child pornography while he was out on a $100,000 bond for online sexual solicitation of a minor in North Carolina, according to an FDLE Facebook post.
Simeon Sharif Fountain, 46, is facing six counts of possession of sexual performance by a child after FDLE agents and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team searched his home Wednesday after receiving a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. NCMEC received the tip from the messaging app Kik, according to an arrest affidavit. The videos were of females between the ages of 8 and 14, and one video depicted a young girl being tied up and raped while she cries and tells her adult rapist to stop and “it hurts,” according to the affidavit.
FDLE agents questioned Fountain, who told them he received the pornographic videos “unsolicited” and sent them to moderators of chat groups “in an attempt to report the person(s) who sent the child pornography to him,” the affidavit states. He said if the moderators were unavailable, he sent them to other users as a way to report the original senders. Multiple electronic devices were collected as evidence and additional charges may be pending.
Fountain was taken into custody and transported to the Lake County Jail. The arresting FDLE agent requested Fountain be held on no bond due to the pending charges in Caldwell county, North Carolina and the likelihood of additional charges in the Florida case. However, Fountain was released less than 24 hours later on $150,000 bond.
According to an article last month in the Daily Commercial, Fountain, and his wife are part of the Support America’s Teachers foundation, started by Fountain’s father, Tony. The couple visits schools to show appreciation. In December, Simeon Fountain visited Leesburg High School for an event celebrating employees at LHS that included lunch and gifts from local businesses, according to the article.
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Our Editor-in-Chief, Marilyn M. Aciego, began writing for Lake Legal News in 2010. Born and raised in Lake County, she is a graduate of Umatilla High School and Lake-Sumter State College. She started her journalism career at LSSC, where she was editor of both student publications, The Angler and The Odyssey. Her professional career began at the Daily Commercial in 2004 where she covered cops and courts the majority of her time there until she left in 2009. Currently, along with being Editor-in-Chief of Lake Legal News, she is the Florida bureau chief for an international media organization. She has made more than two dozen appearances on live national television, including Nancy Grace and the Greta Van Susteren show, along with her appearance on Evil Twins. Contact her with breaking news, tips, and feedback by sending an e-mail to 352Tips@gmail.com. You can also contact us on our Facebook page — and make sure you “Like” and “Follow us” there. [PHOTO CREDIT: Bonnie Whicher]
