The home Internet account registered to the top federal agent in South Florida responsible for investigating child pornography trafficking was repeatedly used to transfer images of nude children, according to search warrants obtained by the Sun Sentinel.

Anthony V. Mangione, the local head of U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was indicted last week on three federal charges alleging he possessed, received and transported child pornography, offenses punishable by up to 50 years in prison. He has pleaded not guilty.

The search warrants detail Internet activity dating back two years involving a multitude of online screen names — such as BookStoreMomNC, Flasunguy33, thismomspanks33 and PastorRobertM — associated with Mangione's AOL account, according to the search warrants.

"This same pattern can be seen going back to September 2009," a Broward Sheriff's detective wrote in the probable cause affidavit used to obtain one of the warrants.

Mangione, 50, of Parkland, a 27-year career law enforcement officer, is being held in federal custody pending a psychological examination to determine whether he might pose a danger to himself if released on bail.

He was placed on paid administrative leave in April, two days after the computers in his home were searched by authorities. An ICE spokesman would only say the agency is cooperating with the investigation. Mangione's defense attorney, David Howard of Miami, could not be reached for comment despite messages left for him over two days.

The two search warrants obtained by the Sun Sentinel were recently unsealed, and they shed new light on how Mangione's email activity came to the attention of Broward Sheriff's Office detectives who specialize in cyber crimes involving the exploitation of children.

Between 1:30 a.m. and 2:06 a.m. on Sept. 14, 2010, the AOL account registered to Mangione sent three sexually explicit images to at least one unidentified recipient, according to one warrant. Two of the images showed two boys under age 10, and the third showed a girl under age 12.

The search warrants sought details about Mangione's AOL accounts and what files had been transferred through the accounts, after sheriff's detectives were alerted to possible child pornography being involved.

AOL has sophisticated software to scan for potential pornography, one warrant explains, and that software flagged the files being sent from Mangione's email account. Mangione's AOL account was shut down the following day, Sept. 15, and AOL preserved all the information related to the account.

An AOL employee reviewed the information relating to the files and sent it to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in Alexandria, Va., which serves as a clearinghouse to forward such information to the appropriate federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, one warrant says.

Broward Sheriff's detectives received the information Sept. 30, 2011, regarding those three images and an additional four images characterized as "child erotica" in the search warrant. Those images were sent out by BookStoreMomNC@aol.com during the same time frame as the three pornographic images, and involved a girl under age 12 with shoulder-length blond hair and glasses, standing nude, according to the warrants.

Once detectives got the tip from the center, Broward prosecutors subpoenaed AOL to learn the name of the account subscriber. It came back to "AV Mangione," according to the warrant. The subpoena also sought information on other screen names used on the AOL account.

Out of the 10 other screen names associated with the account, one — Flasunguy33@aol.com — had received three images of "child erotica" between March and September 2010, according to the warrants. Another email address associated with the account, under the name HsMom136@aol.com, contained "several emails with child pornography images attached," according to one of the warrants.

"Emails from the suspect account also contained additional images that displayed a sexual interest in children," one of the warrants says. "For example, at least three of the images depicted nude children being spanked. At least five additional images depicted the nude buttocks of children."

After Mangione's AOL account was shut down, the Internet address associated with his AT&T broadband service was used to create three AOL Instant Messenger online screen names – Txdad723, Oldrmom111 and alexisGA725, according to the search warrants.

Those screen names were created in October and November 2010 and used through April 9, the day Mangione's home was searched, according to the warrants. The warrants did not contain any information relating to what investigators found involving those screen names.

Mangione's next court date is Oct. 17