Latest / Crime Alert Hourly Update / Florida Inmate Caught Operating CSAM Ring from Prison Cell | Crime Alert 10.28.26

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Florida Inmate Caught Operating CSAM Ring from Prison Cell | Crime Alert 10.28.26 · Crime Alert Hourly Update

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  Speaker 1: Crime Alert, hourly update, breaking crime news now.
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  Speaker 2: I'm Sydney Silvani. A convicted child molester serving a 25-year
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  Speaker 2: sentence at Florida's Martin Correctional Institution has allegedly been caught
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  Speaker 2: using an illegal cell phone in his cell to communicate
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  Speaker 2: with a minor and gather thousands of child sexual abuse images.
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  Speaker 2: According to the Florida Department of Corrections, 44-year-old Thomas Kendall Jr.
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  Speaker 2: was convicted in September 2024 of child molestation and possession
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  Speaker 2: of child sexual abuse material. A November 2023 Broward Sheriff's
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  Speaker 2: Office arrest report alleged that Kendall photographed himself sexually abusing
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  Speaker 2: a relative and paid an overseas contact $ 40 to sexually
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  Speaker 2: abuse a young girl during a live video chat. The
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  Speaker 2: FBI also charged Kendall with producing child pornography, ensuring he
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  Speaker 2: will serve federal prison time following his state sentence. Investigators
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  Speaker 2: recently discovered the contraband phone in Kendall's cell after an
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  Speaker 2: Internet Crimes Against Children tip. The device allegedly contained thousands
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  Speaker 2: of abusive files, including AI-generated images depicting the victim from
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  Speaker 2: his original case, alongside evidence that Kendall had been messaging
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  Speaker 2: a minor on social media. Martin County Sheriff John Budenziak
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  Speaker 2: made his absolute disgust clear to WPBF.
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  Speaker 3: If I had my way, truthfully, I believe in rehabilitation.
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  Speaker 3: I believe in second chances. This guy is not that guy.
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  Speaker 3: This guy deserves to get the ultimate penalty. If I
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  Speaker 3: had my way, he would get the death penalty. He
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  Speaker 3: is victimizing and continuing to victimize. our youth while he
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  Speaker 3: sits on our prison.
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  Speaker 2: Sheriff Budenziak revealed the device was not well hidden, taking
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  Speaker 2: to CBS 12 to demand preventative technology.
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  Speaker 3: There is cell phone jamming equipment that I believe the
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  Speaker 3: state needs to purchase and start shutting this kind of
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  Speaker 3: activity down.
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  Speaker 2: The Florida Department of Corrections insists it enforces a strict
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  Speaker 2: zero-tolerance contraband policy, executing routine searches while working alongside the
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  Speaker 2: inspector general and Martin County deputies. More crime and justice
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  Speaker 2: news after this. In California, a 34-year-old man has been
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  Speaker 2: charged with murder after allegedly poisoning his cancer-stricken foster mother
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  Speaker 2: with a lethal dose of fentanyl and stealing her identity.
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  Speaker 2: Cedric Von Ferdinand was arrested October 20 for the murder
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  Speaker 2: of 64-year-old Nadine Jett, a prominent Los Angeles County attorney.
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  Speaker 2: San Diego County District Attorney Summer Steffen revealed that when
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  Speaker 2: Jett was diagnosed with cancer in August 2023, Von Ferdinand
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  Speaker 2: moved into her Valley Center residence under the pretense of
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  Speaker 2: providing care. Authorities believe he killed Jett between January 14
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  Speaker 2: and 17 of 2024, shortly after her chemotherapy appointment. Von
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  Speaker 2: Ferdinand then told friends Jett wanted cremation without a funeral
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  Speaker 2: and falsely told a home caregiver she died in Mexico.
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  Speaker 2: Suspicion grew when he failed to provide a death certificate,
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  Speaker 2: prompting Jett's other foster children to report her missing and
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  Speaker 2: expose fraudulent deed transfers. In July 2025, San Diego County
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  Speaker 2: Sheriff Kelly Martinez confirmed deputies found Jett's remains buried six
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  Speaker 2: feet deep on her 20-acre property, with a medical examiner
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  Speaker 2: ruling it a homicide. With financial losses topping $ 500, 000, District
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  Speaker 2: Attorney Stephan addressed the press.
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  Speaker 1: This is a case of deadly greed. It's a case
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  Speaker 1: where the defendant is already a defendant in real estate
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  Speaker 1: fraud involving our victim Nadine. He preyed on her in
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  Speaker 1: her time of need when she was suffering from cancer.
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  Speaker 1: It is quite despicable.
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  Speaker 2: Two others also face fraud charges. At the press conference,
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  Speaker 2: foster daughter Bianca Lucci remembered the woman who took her
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  Speaker 2: family in after 10 foster homes.
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  Speaker 4: And she was that mom we needed. She gave us
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  Speaker 4: a fair chance at life. So I'm glad justice will
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  Speaker 4: finally be served. I do believe that this was all
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  Speaker 4: off greed of money, and it's just sad.
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  Speaker 2: Defense attorney Ashley Mangold says Von Ferdinand maintains his innocence
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  Speaker 2: and love for his mother. Arraignment is set for November 5th.
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  Speaker 2: In Alabama, 47-year-old Thomas Henry Steele faces two counts of
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  Speaker 2: capital murder, accused of decapitating his 65-year-old aunt, Christy DeLoach,
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  Speaker 2: and 85-year-old grandmother, Dora Boone, with a chainsaw inside their
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  Speaker 2: mobile home. Hours before police found their bodies on October 12th,
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  Speaker 2: a relative called 911. According to a call transcript, the
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  Speaker 2: caller reported Steele had stopped taking lithium, given away his phone,
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  Speaker 2: and was giving away his car, noting he was bipolar
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  Speaker 2: but currently calm. Dispatchers provided the non-emergency police number. Officers
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  Speaker 2: subsequently discovered the victims and detained Steele, who lived at
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  Speaker 2: the home. During an October 13th hearing, Judge Wesley Pipes
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  Speaker 2: ordered an inpatient competency evaluation after Steele told the judge
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  Speaker 2: to kill his court-appointed public defender, Glenn Davidson. Mobile County
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  Speaker 2: District Attorney spokeswoman Tara Zeman stated prosecutors are weighing additional
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  Speaker 2: charges pending that evaluation, which could take up to 90
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  Speaker 2: days at the state mental health department. Steele is scheduled
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  Speaker 2: for arraignment on November 19th. In Mobile, DeLoach spent 15
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  Speaker 2: years styling hair at Mr. Sam's Hair Fashions, where salon
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  Speaker 2: owner Lenny Zange spoke with WKRG. Just a real sweet girl,
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  Speaker 2: beautiful person, but I consider her a friend.
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  Speaker 3: You know, she'd been with us for 15 years and
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  Speaker 3: she cut my hair.
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  Speaker 2: Grieving neighbors remembered DeLoach as a deeply loving caregiver who
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  Speaker 2: attended local neighborhood events and devoted her life to caring
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  Speaker 2: for her elderly mother. For more crime and justice news,
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  Speaker 2: be sure to join us for Crime Stories with Nancy
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  Speaker 2: Grace on Fox One, YouTube, Sirius XM, and now streaming
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  Speaker 2: on Tubi. With this crime alert, I'm Sydney Silvani.