Ocala, Florida - Senior U.S. District Judge Wm. Terrell Hodges today sentenced Jonathan Thomas Pearce (38, Citra) to 14 years in federal prison for possession of child pornography, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. The Court also ordered him to forfeit a laptop computer, which he had used to facilitate the offense. Pearce pleaded guilty on May 4, 2017.
According to court documents, on Jan. 12, 2017, agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations executed a federal search warrant at a residence in Citra, where Pearce, a registered sexual predator, resided. During the investigation, agents recovered images of child pornography from Pearce’s laptop computer. The images included toddlers and children between the ages of 3 and 10 years old.
"This predator re-victimized very young children with his crimes," said Special Agent in Charge of HSI Tampa James C. Spero. "This sentence should also serve as a sobering reminder to child predators that HSI will continue to work diligently to hold these criminals accountable for their actions."
This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations - Orlando Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dale R. Campion.
This case was 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 United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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
