Court documents reveal new details in case of Mobile florist arrested on child porn charges

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - Thirty-year-old Tyler McIlwain of Mobile sits in Metro Jail on multiple child pornography charges.

The Mobile County Sheriff’s Office arrested McIlwain at his home in West Mobile on Thursday morning. McIlwain faces five counts of possessing child pornography and five counts of distributing it.

On Friday, his bond was set at $30,000 for each count of distribution and $15,000 for each count of possession. A judge has also ordered him not to have any contact with children, he can’t use electronic devices unless it’s for work, and he can only call a few family members. His passport was also taken.

An investigator’s affidavit states that in July 2024, Snapchat made a report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children concerning child sexual abuse material found on their platform.

Snapchat alleged a user uploaded three videos suspected of containing the inappropriate content. Snapchat provided an IP address that was used to log in to the Snapchat account. A subpoena was then sent to AT&T and they confirmed the account was registered to ‘Tyler Matthew Creations, LLC’- the name for McIlwain’s floral business which he runs in Mobile. Court documents show McIlwain listed his birthdate on Snapchat as 2003, but McIlwain’s actual birth year is 1994.

In October, the Mobile County detective goes on to say he executed a search warrant on the Snapchat account and found five images and videos of child sexual abuse material. The affidavit states a child who appeared to be 15 or younger was included in the content.

Court records show a laptop, desktop computer and iPhone were seized from McIlwain’s home.

McIlwain is scheduled to appear in court for his arraignment next Wednesday.