A Gainesville man was arrested Wednesday and faces three counts of distribution of child pornography and 49 counts of child pornography possession.
Miko Bryles, 29, possessed 48 videos and one image of child sexual abuse material across three Kik accounts, according to the arrest report.
The investigation began in September, when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a CyberTip from Kik, a messaging app, about an account linked to child exploitation. The tip included 11 videos of child sexual abuse material uploaded by Bryles’ account in August, which were then shared in private chats. Kik provided the suspect’s user ID, screen name, display name, email address and both login and upload IP addresses.
Using Maxmind, an IP data company, the IP address was traced to Cox Communications and subleased to an unknown user in Gainesville. In October, a Gainesville Police Department detective sent a subpoena to Cox Communications for subscriber details related to the IP address and issued a search warrant for Bryles’ Kik account data.
Cox Communications responded with the name Miko Bryles, his address and phone number. In December, Kik provided chats showing the suspect was actively looking for others to trade child sexual abuse material with, according to the arrest report.
On Nov. 8, NCMEC received a second child exploitation CyberTip from Kik regarding one of its users’ accounts. This led to another subpoena and search warrant, revealing 21 videos uploaded in October. After another subpoena and search warrant, Cox Communications again confirmed Bryles’ name and his Gainesville address.
On Dec. 12, NCMEC received a third CyberTip for 16 videos and one image of child sexual abuse material uploaded to Kik and distributed earlier that month..
A search warrant was executed at Bryles’ apartment Wednesday, where police made contact with him and two roommates.
Bryles initially denied having the three Kik accounts and distributing and possessing child pornography, but he later admitted the accounts were his and he’d sent the content.
Bryles told police he accidentally stumbled upon child pornography, and his addiction to pornography has caused issues in his relationship.
Contact Olivia Shehadi at oshehadi@alligator.org. Follow her on X @OliviaS111.
