A former part-time Pensacola police officer now faces dozens of felony charges following a joint investigation conducted by state and federal authorities into illegal digital content, as announced by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Matthew Baxter, 47, of Pensacola, was taken into custody without incident on October 26 and subsequently booked into the Escambia County Jail. State law enforcement officials arrested Baxter as part of a statewide initiative designed to identify and apprehend individuals who target children and distribute illicit material.
According to investigators, the case against Baxter originated from a separate inquiry launched in October 2026, during which authorities initially arrested him on charges of possessing controlled substances without a valid prescription. In the course of that investigation, agents seized several of Baxter’s electronic devices for forensic examination.
Analysis of those devices revealed multiple digital files depicting child sexual abuse, as well as 30 videos containing sexual activity involving animals. Investigators additionally recovered photographs that Baxter had taken of unidentified individuals inside various restroom facilities.
Following the completion of the forensic examination, FDLE agents formally charged Baxter with four counts of possessing child sexual abuse material, 30 counts of sexual activity involving animals, four counts of digital voyeurism, and two counts of using a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony.
The Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement and the U.S. Marshals Service provided assistance to the FDLE in executing the arrest.
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