Neighbors of a gay couple in Maryland were shocked to find out they were arrested for possession of child pornography after getting flagged by IKEA.
41-year-old Robert Sherer and 54-year-old Robert Books were arrested Wednesday after police were tipped off about Sherer allegedly downloading child pornography on his work computer. He worked as a senior resolutions generalist at IKEA in White Marsh.
The company, which is based in Sweden, notified Swedish police about the alarming discovery after confirming the accusation. Police notified their counterparts in Maryland, who began investigating the couple in March.
After an investigation by the Maryland Computer Crimes Unit, the couple’s home on North Calvert Street was searched, and police said they found more child pornography on several devices, including cellphones.
The two men are being held at the Baltimore City Detention Center and are scheduled for court hearings in May. Sherer was charged with five counts of child pornography possession while Books was charged with three counts of child pornography possession.
Neighbors told WJZ-TV they were shocked by the arrest since their neighborhood is very quiet and everyone knows each other.
“I am super shocked,” said Kristin Carbone, who has two sons aged 7 and 8 years old. “I saw some activity over there the other day but that is not something I thought of.”
She said that she is reconsidering allowing the boys to walk to a nearby neighborhood park to play by themselves.
“I mean I feel safe in the neighborhood, but it is definitely concerning because they’re at an age where they can go to the playground on their own, so it may make me think twice,” she added.
Other neighbors were alarmed about the incident but said they weren’t worried about their safety.
“It’s a shock but the reality is if there was some sort of operation to figure out who they were, to catch them. They’ve been caught,” said Carol Westcott Baker, a woman who has lived in the neighborhood for 24 years.
“I know everybody on this side of the street, so I’m not worried,” she added.
“In my experience, it’s calm,” said Michael Walsh. “You never know, but hopefully, this will be a one time or very, very rare.”
Residents who lived near the couple said they usually kept to themselves.
Here’s a news report about the incident:
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