
A Collin County man is facing charges of possession of child pornography and possession with intent to promote child pornography after police say undercover officers caught him trying to traffic the illegal material online.
Christopher Michael Chairez, 38, was arrested Jan. 9 and is facing both charges after investigators with the Collin County Sheriff's Office's Child Exploitation Unit said they identified him as someone sharing the material on the internet.
When investigators executed a search warrant at his Plano apartment, they said evidence at the scene included 18 terabytes of data on devices used to share and view child pornography and less than two ounces of marijuana.
"The shocking quantity of child pornography seized in this investigation reminds us how important it is for parents to diligently monitor their children's online activities," said Collin County Sheriff Jim Skinner. "Child predators seek to exploit children whose parents don't know, or don't care about, the identities of the individuals who communicate with them over the web. We ask all parents to be vigilant and report any suspicious social-media activity to law enforcement."
How much material could be stored on 18TB? Assuming some generalities regarding file size, 18 TB could hold about 6 million photos, 9,000 hours of video or 3.6 million songs.
Officials did not say if Chairez was producing the material or if any of the material involved children in Collin County. They also did not say how much of the 18TB of data recovered was illegal material.
Chairez was freed Jan. 14 after posting $30,000 bond on the child porn charges and an additional $500 bond on the marijuana possession charge.
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Skinner said The Texas Department of Public Safety and Wylie Police Department assisted in the investigation.