Jacksonville, Florida - United States District Judge Timothy J. Corrigan has sentenced James Donald Jacola (54, Green Cove Springs) to five years in federal prison for receiving images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children over the Internet. He must also serve a 10-year term of supervised release, register as a sex offender, and forfeit his computer equipment.
According to court documents and information disclosed in court, FBI agents began an online undercover investigation to identify individuals who were using a particular website to access images and videos depicting child pornography. The agents determined that Jacola, using the pseudonym “mooncalf," had accessed this website. On March 10, 2016, a search warrant was executed at Jacola’s residence and agents seized two computers. Forensic analyses of the computers revealed that they contained at least 3 videos and at least 784 images depicting child pornography. One of these videos depicted a toddler being molested; it had been downloaded and viewed twice by Jacola on the day before the agents executed the search warrant.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Clay County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.
It is another case brought as 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. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys