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Investigators ID alleged sex abuse victims

  • Story Highlights
  • Girls thought to be 7 to 9 years old when tapes made five years ago
  • Suspect, 36, charged with one count of sexual battery on a child younger than 12
  • He is also charged with 11 counts of sexual performance by a child
  • Hundreds of videos found in a Florida apartment where suspect was arrested
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(CNN) -- Florida investigators have identified two victims of apparent underage sexual abuse seen on a video found in the former home of a man arrested last week, authorities said Tuesday.

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Hundreds of videos were found in an apartment rented by Matthew Kent Sheley, police say.

Matthew Kent Sheley, 36, of Hollywood, Florida, was charged Monday with one count of sexual battery on a child younger than 12, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said.

He previously had been charged with 11 counts of sexual performance by a child.

One of the alleged victims was identified from the video and the other through photographs, the FDLE said.

Officials gave no details of how the two were tracked down, saying only they "were identified through investigative leads."

The additional charge against Sheley was filed after the victim seen in the videotape was found, the FDLE said.

Sheley is being held in the Broward County Jail.

Sheley was arrested Friday after Hallandale Beach police said they received five videos showing attacks on two girls, both about 7 to 9 years old.

They were found by Martin Halladey, a property manager cleaning up an apartment where Sheley recently lived. Halladey described the tapes as "pretty graphic." Video Watch Halladey describe a girl in the tape as 'trusting' »

Although the faces of neither Sheley nor the girls were shown, police identified him through star tattoos on his left arm and hand that are seen in the video, Hallandale Beach police spokesman Andrew Casper said.

Police also released a chilling image of the handcuffed left arm of one of the young girls showing a "kidney-shaped mole."

Casper said a date on the tapes indicated the alleged abuse took place five years ago.

In a news release Tuesday, the FDLE said investigators had searched "several Broward County locations and have seized videotapes, computer equipment and other items."

Police found "hundreds of videos" at an apartment in Hollywood where Sheley was arrested, Casper said. Investigators are going through them to identify more possible victims.

Sheley is originally from Texas and had lived in Gainesville, Florida, before moving to South Florida about 10 years ago, Casper said.

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He led "a transient life" and may have victimized girls in other states, Casper added.

Sheley's criminal record includes convictions for burglary and marijuana possession, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend

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