Christopher M. Mayer, 32, of Navarre, Florida, was indicted on July 14 in federal court on charges related to child exploitation crimes. Mayer faces one count of conspiracy to distribute, receive, and possess visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, one count of receipt of child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography. John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, announced the indictment.
Mayer appeared for arraignment before United States Magistrate Judge Hope Thai Cannon in Pensacola. A jury trial is scheduled for August 17 before United States District Judge T. Kent Wetherell II. If convicted on the conspiracy and receipt counts, Mayer faces a minimum sentence of five years’ imprisonment and up to twenty years for each count; he also faces up to twenty years’ imprisonment on the possession charge. Mayer would be required to register as a sexual offender and forfeit all electronic devices used in committing the alleged offenses.
The case is being jointly investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys David L. Goldberg and Thomas S.P. Geeker.
“An indictment is merely an allegation by a grand jury that a defendant has committed a violation of federal criminal law and is not evidence of guilt,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s announcement. “All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.” The case falls under Project Safe Childhood—a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 aimed at combating child sexual exploitation online through collaboration between federal, state, and local agencies.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida covers 23 counties including Tallahassee and operates from courthouses in Tallahassee, Pensacola, and Gainesville as part of its mission within the Department of Justice to uphold civil rights laws across northern Florida, according to its official website.