ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The co-owner of a climbing gym in west-central Florida is accused of sending sexually explicit messages and videos to an undercover agent he believed was a 14-year-old girl, authorities said.
Christopher Brown, 41, was arrested Wednesday and charged with 10 counts of transmission of harmful material to a minor and one count of unlawful use of a two-way device, according to online jail records.
Brown is a co-owner of Vertical Ventures, a rock climbing and fitness gym in St. Petersburg.
Brown was booked into the Pinellas County Jail, the Tampa Bay Times reported. Bail was set at $102,000.
According to St. Petersburg Police Department spokesperson Yolanda Fernandez, an undercover detective and Brown began having conversations through an unspecified social media app last month, WFLA reported.
“We had an undercover officer in a chat situation with Christopher Brown,” Fernandez told reporters. “... He thought the undercover officer was a 14-year old girl.”
Brown allegedly sent graphic images of adults to the detective, believing he was sending them to a teen, the Times reported.
Brown had been a co-owner at the gym since 2006, another co-owner, Hal Thureson, told the newspaper, adding that Brown no longer worked at the gym.
“Since we don’t accept or tolerate this inappropriate behavior we are parting ways with Chris Brown,” Thureson told the Times. “We want to assure our customers and employees that we are open for business and that we do not tolerate this behavior.”
Police said the case was an active and ongoing investigation.
Cox Media Group
