A California man was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for sexually exploiting children by secretly recording minors through spyware installed on laptops and directing children overseas to produce child sexual abuse material, according to a July 29 announcement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Becerra imposed the sentence on Jacob Melvin Hart, 46, after he pleaded guilty to attempted production of visual depictions involving sexual exploitation of a minor and transportation of visual depictions involving the sexual exploitation of minors. U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones said, “This defendant weaponized technology and abused positions of trust to invade children’s most private spaces and sexually exploit them. The 40-year sentence imposed on Jacob Melvin Hart means he will likely spend the rest of his life in federal prison. It protects children from a calculated predator and demonstrates that we will pursue those who produce and solicit child sexual abuse material, whether their victims are here at home or across the world.”
Hart was stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection upon returning through Miami International Airport following a mission trip to Haiti. An inspection revealed child sexual abuse material on his electronic devices, including images and videos he had directed minor children in Russia to create at his request.
Investigators found that Hart previously worked as an IT consultant for a California church where he had access to numerous minor children. He provided laptops equipped with spyware that allowed him remote access to activate cameras without users’ knowledge, resulting in secret recordings of at least eight minor victims as well as possession of sexually explicit depictions involving those children.
In 2006, Hart was convicted in Oregon for invasion of privacy after installing a hidden camera in a girls’ locker room at a summer camp. During sentencing in this case, the court described Hart’s conduct as “extraordinary.”
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations Miami office; Assistant U.S. Attorney Brianna Coakley prosecuted it. The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida oversees an area spanning about 15,197 square miles across nine counties serving more than seven million residents with branch offices in Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Fort Pierce and Key West; it operates under the Department of Justice with about 223 assistant attorneys among its staff, according to its official website.