DeLand-area man arrested after Child Exploitation Unit search warrant

Date Added: May 29, 2026 6:00 pm

A DeLand-area man is in custody following a search warrant at his home in an ongoing VSO Child Exploitation Unit investigation.

During an initial forensic examination of Trent Prather's devices, detectives found 42,000+ files that appear to contain illegal images of children.

Prather was already taken into custody early this morning with no bond on weapons charges. Detectives have added 20 counts of possession of child sexual abuse materials while the investigation continues.

The recovered images included girls from the ages of about 4 to 10, the same age range as his own children.

This is not Prather's first time getting caught. In 2011, in Utah, he was investigated and arrested for viewing the same type of content, mostly involving girls 6-7 years old, but some as young as 2. He was charged with 10 counts of exploitation of a minor and sentenced to probation.

He was investigated again in Utah in 2018 after the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children submitted a tip that he'd downloaded more files. There was reportedly not enough evidence to charge or prosecute him.

Updates on this case will be provided as they become available.