A man who worked at pop artist Romero Britto's Lincoln Road gallery and shop has been arrested and charged with possession of child pornography, the Miami Herald reports.
The man, Valeriano Torres, has allegedly also worked with Bruno Fine Art and the Miami Art Museum. According to ArtSlant, Torres also worked as a curator for Miami Art Space.
Police began investigating him after he sent illegal images via AOL, and discovered he had photos of children "engaged in sexual intercourse with other children," police say.
The images were found during a raid of Torres's West Kendall home. Torres has been charged with 15 felonies.
The man was a regular on the art-party circuit in Miami, especially during Art Basel. Search for him on Google, and once you're past the mug shots, you'll find photos of him attending Basel events such as the opening of the Miami River Art Fair last December.
Torres told police the images were art, not porn. A representative for the Britto gallery told the Herald that Torres no longer works there.
This is the part of the story where we'd usually get all snarky about Britto and his cult of mass-produced neon paintings. But you're on your own here. Say what you will about the quality of Britto's art, but we're drawing the line at comparing it to kiddie porn.
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