CASA GRANDE -- A man wanted in Pinal County for possessing thousands of files of child pornography committed suicide Thursday as police questioned him in Florida, authorities said.
In February, the Casa Grande Police Department assisted the Pinal County Adult Probation search the residence of 45-yar-old Albert Thomas Shade, a registered sex offender living in Casa Grande. During the search, probation officers seized numerous items of Shade’s property, including a computer, Casa Grande police said.
Shade absconded to Florida and Pinal County Adult Probation issued a warrant for his arrest, police said.
The computer was turned over to the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office Forensics Analysis Unit where over 800,000 files of child pornography were discovered, according to police. Casa Grande Police Detectives contacted the City of Sebastian Police Department in Florida and requested their assistance in locating Shade.
On Thursday at about 1:30 p.m., Sebastian Police Detectives visited a home where Shade was believed to be staying, according to TCPalm media.
Sebastian Police spokesperson Cmdr. John Blackledge told TCPalm that detectives confronted Shade when he stepped outside the residence to smoke a cigarette. Shade at some point cut himself in the neck with a knife during this confrontation and then retreated back inside the home.
Sebastian Police attempted to convince Shade to surrender using a loudspeaker, Blackledge added. Officers eventually forced their way inside the home and found Shade dead from his self-inflicted knife wounds.
An autopsy will be performed on Shade’s body to determine cause of death. Casa Grande police said the case remains an ongoing investigation.
Shade was found guilty in 2009 in the Pinal County Superior Court on two counts of sexually exploiting a minor by distributing, selling or transporting material. According to court records, he was placed on probation and attempted to relocate to Pennsylvania in 2010, though that request was denied. ..Source.. by Staff Reports
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