Top North Miami Beach official jailed after investigation into child sex abuse videos, cops say

MIAMI — Miami police arrested a high-ranking North Miami Beach officer Wednesday after accusing him of uploading more than two dozen child sexual abuse videos and images online.

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Assistant City Manager David Scott is currently facing 15 felony charges. Authorities said the 63-year-old was arrested at his Edgewater home after police executed a search warrant. He was released just hours after his arrest, officials said.

According to a Miami police arrest report, the investigation into Scott began in 2023 after cloud storage service Synchronoss flagged 31 files containing child abuse material that had been uploaded to his account along with personal photos.

After executing the warrant, police said they found “numerous” illegal files on his phone.

The report describes graphic rape and abuse to which the victims were subjected in 15 videos. According to authorities, 14 of the videos featured young boys, while another featured a girl. the youngest victim was about 2 years old.

Authorities said Scott had a file in which a young victim was abused while she was “unconscious.”

Jail records show Scott was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center just before 5 p.m. — no bail had been set as of early Wednesday evening.

“While the city has not been asked for assistance or information, we will fully cooperate with North Miami Beach and expedite all requests to North Miami Beach,” a spokesperson for the city of North Miami Beach said in a statement to local media on Wednesday.

In a press release, MPD Chief Manny Morales said, in part: “Our Special Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Unit conducted an investigation that resulted in the arrest of an individual who happens to sit at the highest level of a local municipal government.” This is extremely disappointing, particularly given their trusting role and the fact that the victims were children – one of our most vulnerable populations.”

In the same news release, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said she was “shocked and disappointed to learn that a high-ranking government official would be charged with possession of child pornography.”

“As a prosecutor, I know that our law enforcement and my prosecutors are committed to ensuring that no child suffers the denigration, exploitation and abuse that is at the heart of every child pornography arrest,” she said. “Child pornography is always a crime that involves exploiting the innocence of our children.”