Local Men Arrested In Child Porn Bust

SAN DIEGO -- Three San Diego men have been arrested in connection with three separate child pornography investigations by a joint federal and state task force, FBI officials said Monday.

Scott Thomas Tubbs, 37; Norman Hall, 64; and Albert Ralph Freeman III, 24; were all arrested last week and face various federal and state charges related to using computers to view and share child pornography, Special Agent in Charge Keith Slotter said.

Tubbs was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of possession of material depicting child sexual content, Slotter said.

According to the court declaration filed in connection to the arrest, Tubbs posted child pornography on a Yahoo Groups Web site and the postings were discovered and reported by Yahoo.

Hall was also arrested on suspicion of possession of material depicting child sexual conduct but his arrest was made Thursday, Slotter said.

Court documents state that Hall took his computer to a repair shop in 2006 and a computer technician found several questionable images on the hard drive. Authorities later got a search warrant to seize the computer and a forensic test found around 800 images of child pornography.

Freeman was arrested Friday for allegedly using a specialized version of a peer-to-peer file sharing program to share and possess child pornography, Slotter said.

Freeman's case is being handled by the U.S. Attorney's Office, while Tubbs and Hall will be prosecuted by the San Diego District Attorney's Office, Slotter said.

Bail was set for all three men at $50,000 each.