Police say a cyber tip led investigators to a home search, confession and additional charges.
OVIEDO, FL — An Oviedo man previously convicted in the fatal shooting of a fellow soldier more than a decade ago has been arrested again, accused of possessing and sharing child sexual abuse material after a cyber tip triggered a months-long investigation by local police.
Marshall Drake, 36, was taken into custody Thursday after investigators traced an online file containing suspected illegal material to an address in Oviedo, according to an arrest report. Authorities said the investigation began in late 2025 after a messaging service reported a suspicious video to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a clearinghouse that distributes cyber tips to law enforcement agencies.
According to the arrest report, the tip was generated in November 2025 after a file believed to contain child sexual abuse material was shared through a messaging application. Investigators said the video depicted two girls believed to be between 11 and 13 years old. The service provided technical information about the upload, including an internet protocol address that traced activity to the Oviedo area.
Detectives later obtained a subpoena for subscriber information connected to the IP address. Records returned by AT&T in January linked the account to Drake and a residential address in Oviedo. Police spent several weeks building the case before seeking a search warrant for the home, investigators said.
Officers executed that warrant March 5 and interviewed Drake at the residence. The arrest report states Drake lived at the home with his wife and her 14-year-old daughter. During the search and interview, investigators said they uncovered evidence connected to online messaging accounts and conversations discussing sexual violence toward the teenager.
The report states Drake had “numerous chats” on the messaging platform Kik in which he discussed plans to sexually assault the girl who lived in the home. Police said those conversations were discovered during the investigation of electronic devices and online accounts linked to him.
Investigators wrote in the report that Drake provided what they described as a full confession to transmitting and possessing child sexual abuse material during the interview. Police did not immediately detail how many files were recovered or whether additional victims have been identified.
Authorities also discovered weapons during the search, according to the arrest affidavit. Officers reported finding firearms inside the residence and brass knuckles on the dashboard of Drake’s truck. Because Drake has a prior felony conviction, investigators said he is prohibited from possessing weapons or ammunition.
As a result, prosecutors filed additional charges, including possession of a weapon or ammunition by a convicted felon. The combination of charges means Drake now faces multiple potential felony counts connected to both the alleged online exploitation offenses and the weapons discovered during the search.
The arrest revived scrutiny of Drake’s earlier criminal case stemming from his time in the U.S. Army. In 2013, Drake, then an Army specialist, was sentenced to more than a decade in a military prison after the fatal shooting of another soldier at a military installation in Alaska.
According to records from the U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals, the incident occurred on Christmas Day while Drake and other soldiers were drinking. The court described the group as engaging in horseplay when Drake discharged a firearm and shot another soldier in the head. The victim died instantly.
Military prosecutors charged Drake in connection with the shooting, and he ultimately received a prison sentence of more than ten years following the court-martial proceedings. The case was reviewed through the military appeals system before his conviction and punishment were upheld.
Police have not said when Drake was released from military confinement or how long he has lived in the Oviedo home that became the focus of the current investigation. Public records show the residence is located in Seminole County, northeast of Orlando.
The arrest report indicates investigators requested strict conditions should Drake be released from jail while the case proceeds. Among those proposed conditions are prohibitions on contact with minors and a ban on returning to the residence where the 14-year-old girl lives.
Such restrictions are commonly requested in cases involving alleged sexual exploitation or threats toward minors while prosecutors review evidence and determine whether additional charges should be filed.
Child exploitation investigations often begin with cyber tips from technology companies that detect suspicious files shared on their platforms. Those tips are forwarded to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which distributes them to appropriate law enforcement agencies for follow-up investigations.
Local investigators then work to identify the internet account holder and determine whether the material was downloaded, shared or produced by the user. In many cases, that process involves subpoenas for subscriber records, forensic analysis of electronic devices and interviews with suspects.
Police in Oviedo said their investigation moved from the initial tip to a search warrant after identifying Drake as the account holder connected to the activity. The search and interview conducted March 5 led directly to his arrest.
Drake remained in custody in Seminole County following his arrest, according to jail records. Court documents detailing the formal charges and potential bond conditions were expected to be reviewed by a judge during initial proceedings.
Investigators have not publicly said whether additional electronic devices are still undergoing forensic analysis or whether other individuals could face charges connected to the case.
The investigation remains active as authorities continue reviewing digital evidence gathered during the search of the Oviedo home and Drake’s online accounts.
Author note: Last updated March 6, 2026.