Markenzy Lapointe U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida
A federal judge in West Palm Beach has sentenced James William Latta, a 38-year-old man from Texas, to 20 years in prison followed by 25 years of supervised release. Latta was found guilty of advertising and distributing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) through social media platforms.
During the summer of 2024, Latta used a social networking application to communicate with an individual he believed to be the mother of an eight-year-old child. In these exchanges, he sent sexually explicit videos of himself and inquired about sexual activities between the mother and child. Additionally, Latta managed chat rooms on the platform where he distributed CSAM. In one particular chat room with numerous members, he shared CSAM over 200 times within two months, including posting a hyperlink leading to a website containing more than 3,000 images and videos of CSAM.
Following his identification and arrest in Texas, Latta was transferred to the Southern District of Florida where he pled guilty. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks also mandated that Latta register as a sex offender. A future hearing will determine the restitution amount that Latta must pay to his victims.
The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Hayden O’Byrne for the Southern District of Florida and Acting Special Agent in Charge Jose R. Figueroa of HSI Miami.
The investigation was conducted by HSI West Palm Beach with Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Schiller prosecuting the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse nationwide. The project brings together federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals exploiting children via the Internet while also identifying and rescuing victims.
For further information on Project Safe Childhood or related court documents under case number 24-cr-80115 can be accessed at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Anyone with information regarding child sexual exploitation is encouraged to call (877) 4-HSI-TIP [(877) 447-4847].
