Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – An 84-year-old man named Robert Merril McBride was taken into custody yesterday on charges related to possession of child pornography and neglecting to register his email address as required for a sexual offender.

Back on March 12, Microsoft notified the Gainesville Police Department (GPD) through a CyberTip concerning child sexual abuse material (CSAM) being uploaded to BingImage, with the submission including the IP address responsible for the upload. Microsoft identified two identical images, differing only by file name, displaying two young juveniles who were partially clothed and positioned in sexually suggestive ways.

A subpoena to Cox Communications revealed that the IP address belonged to McBride’s account at his home in the 2800 block of NW 34th Street.

Since 1988, following a conviction for lewd and lascivious assault on a child under 16, McBride has been registered as a sexual offender. Per his registration obligations, he should have reported all his online identifiers and email addresses within 48 hours of their creation. However, he failed to disclose any such information and last registered with the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office on March 18, 2025.

On June 18, GPD executed a search warrant at McBride’s home, and McBride reportedly said he had lived at the home for about 32 years.

Post Miranda, McBride at first reportedly denied possessing or distributing any child sexual abuse material via Microsoft, but he said he uses the Edge browser to view pornography. He reportedly admitted after some time that law enforcement would find evidence of the CSAM images on his device and later admitted to possessing and distributing the CSAM images. When he was shown a sanitized image of the material sent by Microsoft, he reportedly estimated the ages of the two girls as between 10 and 12 years old.

McBride reportedly said he views CSAM “too often” and had last viewed it “probably on Monday.”

An initial review of McBride’s laptop reportedly showed an open web browser with a page showing child erotica; the search history reportedly included multiple CSAM search terms. His cell phone was logged in to an email address, which McBride reportedly said he’d created “a couple of years ago.” He reportedly said he didn’t know he had to report it, although that information is on the form he signs every six months.

McBride has been charged with two counts of distribution of child pornography, one count of possession of child pornography, one count of unlawful use of a two-way communications device, and one count of failure to register an email address as a sexual offender.

McBride has one felony conviction for lewd/lascivious assault on a child under 16. Due to the nature of the charges, the court document showing his bail amount is not public, but the Alachua County Jail site shows that he is being held without bail.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.