U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe | U.S. Department of Justice
James Ray Nichols, a 32-year-old resident of Louisville, Kentucky, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for distributing child sexual abuse material. Following his release, Nichols will be under supervised release for 25 years and must register as a sex offender. This sentencing follows his guilty plea on charges related to the distribution of child pornography.
Court records reveal that from January to July 2024, Nichols engaged in conversations with an undercover Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Task Force Officer and a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Detective. The officers posed as the mother of two young children in South Florida. During this period, Nichols distributed multiple videos containing child sexual abuse material.
On July 17, HSI agents conducted a search at Nichols' residence in Kentucky and discovered a phone containing further exploitative material. Following his arrest, he was transferred to the Southern District of Florida for legal proceedings.
Nichols has agreed to pay $10,000 in restitution to the victims depicted in the materials he distributed.
The case was announced by U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent Anthony Salisbury of HSI Miami, and Sheriff Rick Bradshaw of PBSO. The investigation was carried out by HSI West Palm Beach and PBSO with Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Schiller handling prosecution duties.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative started by the Department of Justice in May 2006 aimed at combating child exploitation and abuse through coordinated efforts among federal, state, and local agencies.
For those wishing to report incidents involving child pornography or exploitation materials can contact authorities at (877) 4-HSI-TIP or file reports via https://report.cybertip.org or call 1-800-843-5678.
Additional details regarding this case are available on the United States Attorney’s Office website for the Southern District of Florida.
