Distributing child pornography or any document that could harm the dignity of a minor comes with devastating legal punishment. Federal law enforcement officials often monitor online activity of adults whom they suspect to be accessing or distributing child pornography. Residents are shocked to find their homes raided and themselves arrested following suspected child pornography crimes and computer crimes.
A man in Brevard County, FL, was sentenced yesterday to eight years in federal prison for distributing child pornography. He was sentenced by a U.S. District Judge who also required the man to register as a sex offender and to serve a five year minimum term of supervision following his release from prison. The court also ordered him to forfeit any and all computer equipment. He plead guilty to his crime back in February.
He was contacted by an undercover agent over the internet in November 2013. He believed the agent was interested in child pornography and discussed trading images with the agent. For a few days he used the Yahoo! Messenger photo-sharing feature to send the agent images of child pornography, including images of prepubescent female children being sexually abused and exploited by adult males. The man used his Yahoo! Messenger screen name to transmit the images which made him an easy target for law enforcement agents. The agents executed a search warrant at the suspect’s residence and during the interview he admitted to sending multiple files of child pornography to the undercover agent. When agents recovered his desktop computer they saw that it contained additional images of child pornography, including some of the images that he had distributed to the undercover agent.
The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations with assistance from the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office. This was another case part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
This man was found rightfully guilty, but there have been cases that fall under a misunderstanding. Sometimes the wrong search for a website can lead you into trouble. You want to make sure you have the right defense attorney by your side, because even if you avoid jail time, having to sign up as a sex offender can leave a lasting damage to your life and career.
