JACKSONVILLE – U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Corrigan sentenced Carl Stephen Smith Jr., 34, Green Cove Springs, to 10 years in federal prison for distributing child sexual abuse materials using the internet. Smith was also ordered to serve a 20-year term of supervised release, register as a sex offender, and pay $12,000 in restitution to victims. Smith was arrested on Jan. 31, 2023, at his residence in Green Cove Springs and has been detained since.

According to court documents, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a Cyber Tipline report in July 2022 from a popular online social media application (app) that three child sexual abuse videos had been uploaded on the app by a user named “daddysir142.” The Internet Protocol (IP) address used to upload these materials was traced to an internet service provider in Green Cove Springs.

On Jan. 31, 2023, agents from Homeland Security Investigations and other law enforcement personnel executed a federal search warrant at Smith’s residence. During an interview with law enforcement, Smith admitted that he communicated with purported minors on social media, that he used two different social media apps to search for child sexual abuse materials, and that he masturbated while viewing such materials.

During the search, HSI agents seized a cellular phone belonging to Smith. A forensic review of this device revealed that it contained at least 22 videos and 37 photos depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. The cellular phone contained online conversations between Smith and other users in which Smith distributed materials depicting the sexual abuse of young children.

On Dec. 30, 2022, Smith messaged another user, “Well, id love to send you cp at least.” On Jan. 6, 2023, Smith distributed a video to this same user that depicted a prepubescent child wearing an animal costume while being sexually abused by an adult male.

“This sentencing reflects the severity of this predator’s reprehensible actions and the harm inflicted upon innocent victims by possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material,” said Homeland Security Investigations Jacksonville Assistant Special Agent in Charge Nicholas Ingegno. “United in purpose, the Northeast Florida INTERCEPT Task Force law enforcement partners stand in the gap to intercept and erase this vile content from existence.”

This case was investigated by the Clay County, Jacksonville, St. Johns County, Columbia County and Putnam County sheriff’s offices, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Northeast Florida INTERCEPT Task Force and Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney D. Rodney Brown prosecuted it.

It is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 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 child victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”