[ad_1]
The co-inventor of the Squatty Potty — once featured on the ABC hit show “Shark Tank” — faces charges of allegedly receiving sexually explicit images of a child, according to a Monday release from the Justice Department announcing an unsealed indictment against the business owner.
Federal authorities arrested 50-year-old Robert Edwards of Ivins, Utah, earlier this month after a four-and-a-half year investigation showed that he allegedly and knowingly received multiple images of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), according to the DOJ release.
Edwards first came to the feds’ attention back in March 2021, when an undercover FBI agent joined a group chat used to trade CSAM and noted that participants viewed abuse videos streaming on the chat’s main screen, the DOJ said. The agent noted that participants were visible during the meeting, including a man later identified as Edwards.
In addition, FBI agents suspected last May that Edwards was purchasing CSAM via PayPal, which led them to execute a search warrant in November.
During the search, agents seized a cell phone from Edwards’ vehicle that contained what the DOJ described as “multiple videos and images of child sexual abuse material, some of which downloaded onto the cell phone just two weeks before the search warrant was executed.”
Authorities found additional CSAM files during the search of Edwards’s residence. He was arrested Feb. 12 and pleaded not guilty to a charge of receipt of child pornography.
His next court date is Monday in St. George, Utah.
HuffPost reached out to Edwards’s attorney, but no one immediately responded.
Edwards is best known to “Shark Tank” fans as the co-creator of Squatty Potty, a stool that props up the legs to supposedly ease bowel movements.
Edwards and his mom ― who is the co-inventor ― made a deal with Shark Lori Greiner in November 2014 that led to the product eventually achieving total lifetime retail sales exceeding $260 million.
HuffPost reached out to Greiner, who reportedly owns 20% of Squatty Potty, for comment, but no one immediately responded.
[ad_2]