Vance Man Caught in Church Bathroom Charged for Child Pornography

An investigation that began when a man was allegedly caught taking photographs in the women's bathroom of a Tuscaloosa County church has ended with him being arrested for child pornography.

According to court documents filed Monday and obtained by the Thread, the Vance Police Department launched an investigation after a man was reportedly discovered taking pictures of people in the women's restroom at Evergreen Baptist Church on U.S. Highway 11 last summer.

Police there obtained a warrant to charge Tobias Keonte Horton with criminal surveillance, and he was arrested last September during a traffic stop.

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Vance PD seized Horton's phone and obtained a search warrant for its contents, and last week, the Joint Electronic Crimes Task Force notified investigators that Horton's phone had roughly 200 images depicting child pornography stored on the device.

As of Monday afternoon, Horton had been charged on 21 different counts of possession of child pornography, each count a Class C felony.

Horton remains in the Tuscaloosa County Jail, where his consolidated bond has been set at $100,000.

This is not the first time Horton has made local headlines - he was also arrested in 2021 and charged with burglary after he reportedly donned an orange safety vest in an attempt to get access to several residences near the University of Alabama campus.

For more on this case as it becomes available, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.