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Photos Of 6-Year-Old Holding Handgun Gets Felon Arrested

POSTED: 4:28 pm EDT June 6, 2008
UPDATED: 6:28 pm EDT June 6, 2008

PALM BAY, Fla. -- A convicted felon was arrested in Palm Bay after allegedly putting a gun in a 6-year-old child's hands and forcing her to pose for pictures.

Investigators said 30-year-old Toby Allen took the disturbing photos on a cell phone. They finally tracked him down at a house in Palm Bay on Tucson Street (see map), where they arrested Allen and one of his roommates, 26-year-old Paul Rosaci.

Her face is blocked out to protect her identity, but police said it's a 6-year-old girl in the flower print shirt holding a handgun that seems disturbingly large for her small hands. In a second picture, she's pointing the same gun right at the camera with her finger on the trigger.

"It's alarming to us that we had such a young child brandishing a handgun," said Det. Steve Hill, Palm Bay Police Department.

Investigators with the Palm Bay Police Department and the Brevard County Sheriff's Office said Allen took the photos, including two more of himself holding an SKS assault rifle. Detectives said the pictures came from a cell phone stolen from the owner of a local landscaping company where Allen recently worked.

The owner of the company was able to recover some of his stolen property, including the phone and contacted officers when he discovered the photos. By examining the background in the photos, police determined they were taken at the home on Tucson Street where officers arrested Allen Friday.

A man who still lives there talked to Eyewitness News about the photos Friday.

"I thought they were outrageous. I don't know why he did it," the unidentified man said. "I asked him what the hell he was thinking."

Police said the photos aren't enough to charge Allen with child endangerment, but they said the girl is safe and Allen, who has a long criminal history, is charged with being a felon in possession of a weapon.

"He indicated he thought it looked funny. He thought it looked cool," said Randy Holliday, Brevard county Sheriff's Office.

Police said they are not identifying the girl in the pictures or her relationship to Allen.

Sounds like a great guy.  Stolen cell phone even?  Nice.



I've seen some great photos of men here shooting SAFELY with their kids.  It all depends on who is taking care of the kids, and how.

A convicted felon and apparent thief was charged with illegally having firearms.

Quoted: A convicted felon and apparent thief was charged with illegally having firearms.

I wanna know why a man with a "long criminal history" isn't dead, locked up, or deported. I hate "prohitbited class" type laws but I think it was applied well in this case.

Quoted: Link Photos Of 6-Year-Old Holding Handgun Gets Felon Arrested

I stopped reading after the headline.

Are we having some kind of "misleading thread title" contest lately?

Quoted: A convicted felon and apparent thief was charged with illegally having firearms.

That's how the synopsis on the police report probably reads.

But in a report given to the press, it was filled with memorable publicity seeking quotes.

Wonderful...

Quoted: Quoted: A convicted felon and apparent thief was charged with illegally having firearms. What he said. If it was CPS and Der Gestapo kicking down the door of an ARFCOMmer who posted a "took my daughter shooting!" post, then I'd be outraged. In this case, while I'm thrilled about the descriptive anti-gun language , the basic premise of the article is solid. Convicted felon with stolen cell phone takes pictures of a child holding a gun that she got from him. Go directly to jail.

Exactly