A North Naples man was arrested Saturday for having and making child porn.
Jeffrey Holcombe, 49, worked for a Naples car dealership but has since been fired. They said they were shocked when authorities visited them Monday morning to tell them what happened.
Holcombe had a federal warrant for his arrest out of Miami-Dade County. He faces charges for production of child pornography, three counts of attempted production of child pornography and the transfer of obscene material to a minor. Collier County deputies arrested him Saturday morning after coming into contact with him during a North Naples road patrol.
Neighbors who live near Holcombe are concerned about his arrest. They said while theirs is an older neighborhood, kids and grandkids are always visiting and in the area.
“I don’t know why anyone would be doing something like that. I’m going to have a great-grandchild soon and it scares the hell out of me that there would be someone like that close,” Chris Desalvo said.
At his first court appearance Monday, it was disclosed that Holcombe is a father of two kids under the age of 18.
Children’s Advocacy Center of Collier County told us people preying on children have easier access to them with more staying home spending more time on their tablets and phones. The center says internet crimes against children have increased by 30% during the pandemic.
“I was shocked by the news,” Jim Ferrari said. “I couldn’t believe it.”
Ferrari lives feet away from Holcombe, and the news of his arrest does not create positive thoughts.
“The house next to him, kids live and play in the back all the time, so that’s kind of scary,” Ferrari said. “I didn’t see much of him. I only saw him sparingly through the night. He would just kind of creep out into his back.”
The prosecutor told the judge that offenses happened in May of 2020 and in January and February of 2021, and Holcombe enticed a 13-year-old girl to send him photos and then threatened to sell and make posters of the images and post them around the area if she told.
”Sort of shocks me,” Frank Joris said. “It’s so close to my house, but like I say, I’m glad that they caught him.”
The advocacy center says Holcombe’s accused behavior can have devastating lifelong effects on the child victims.
“Often times when there’s an offender involved with child pornography, there’s more than one victim,” said Jackie Stephens, the CEO of the Children’s Advocacy Center of Collier County. “They are very manipulative.”
Holcombe’s lawyer didn’t want to comment when we reached out. A sign on the front door of Holcombe’s home shows that domestic animal services took away two cats and a hamster. Board members of his condo association told us they plan to evict him.
“A lot of times, kids do have to testify,” Stephens explained. “And it’s really hard on children, and it can be very traumatizing.”