Florida woman arrested for placing 400 Easter eggs filled with pornographic images in neighborhood mailboxes
A Florida woman was arrested after she was deemed responsible for placing more than 400 porn-filled Easter eggs in mailboxes around her neighborhood.
The plastic eggs were discovered by residents of Flagler County throughout last week. When they opened the eggs, there were no chocolates or sweet treats inside. Instead, they found a rather unusual assortment of items that included pornographic images as well as a goldfish cracker, a packet of drink mix and a piece of toilet paper, the Palm Coast Observer reports.
Several annoyed residents called the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office complaining about the eggs. The department then released a statement on social media soliciting information on the matter.
Police learned from callers how the flags on their respective mailboxes were 'up' and when they looked inside, they found the Easter eggs.
"The person who did this is not only a very sick individual but could actually be spreading [the virus] by their actions," Sheriff Rick Staly said. "We are working to identify the offender and put them in the Green Roof Inn. If anyone else receives something like this or has information on who did this, we ask that you call us immediately."
Authorities later apprehended Abril Cestoni, 42, after scouring through home surveillance footage from neighbors as well as anonymous tips that she had been the one to place the eggs in the mailboxes. Police arrested Cestoni after a successful traffic stop, and she later admitted to creating the pornographic images at home on a computer program.
It later emerged that Cestoni was working at a Publix supermarket in the neighborhood and would 'deliver' the eggs after her shift was over. She told officers she did it in a bid to let churches know they should be spending money on the underprivileged and that in this case, she was the "church." That said, the porn-filled Easter eggs did more harm than deliver her message across.
"Abril stated she was ‘a church’ and had a business license. Abril said she was conducting research on local clergy and people deserved to know the truth," police wrote in the arrest report.
"She certainly has a bizarre, almost zealous opinion of churches and what they should believe in and how they should teach the teachings of the bible," Sheriff Staly said, discussing the arrest. The sheriff pointed out that as well as committing a crime, Cestoni’s actions violated the stay at home order and may have been a health risk. The woman, however, did not have symptoms of COVID-19 and told authorities that she was not trying to spread the virus by distributing the eggs and pamphlets.
"Our team did a great job in tracking this deranged offender down and taking her into custody," he continued in a statement. "Thankfully she did not appear to be sick… but she certainly needs some help. This again proves that ‘see something, say something’ works and we thank the community for being part of our guardianship policing philosophy."
As of now, Cestoni is facing 11 counts of distributing obscene material, driving with a suspended license and violating the stay at home order. However, according to police, she may face additional charges as the case unravels.