GCS man arrested for distributing, possessing child sex abuse videos, images

JACKSONVILLE – U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced the arrest and the return of an indictment charging Carl Stephen Smith, Jr., 32 of Green Cove Springs, with distributing and possessing child sexual abuse materials while using the internet. If convicted, Smith faces a minimum mandatory penalty of five years, up to 40 years, in federal prison and a potential life term of supervised release. Smith was arrested on Jan. 31 and has been detained pending trial in this case.
According to court documents and evidence proffered in open court in July 2022, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a CyberTipline report from an online social media application that three child sexual abuse videos had been uploaded on the app by a user named “daddysir142.”
The IP address used to upload these materials resolved to an internet service provider in Green Cove Springs. An investigation commenced by the Clay County Sheriff’s Office revealed nine other CyberTipline reports submitted by several online social media apps for IP addresses that traced back to either the same internet service provider account at Smith’s residence or a cellphone service carrier used by Smith.
Agents from Homeland Security Investigations, together with other law enforcement personnel, executed a federal search warrant at Smith’s residence and seized a cellphone belonging to Smith. A forensic review of this device revealed that it contained at least 15 videos and 14 images depicting young children being sexually abused. The review also showed Smith had distributed one such video over the internet on Jan. 6 using a social media app.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
The case was investigated by the Clay County, Jacksonville and Putnam county sheriff’s offices, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations. It is being prosecuted by Asst. U.S. Attorney D. Rodney Brown.
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 U.S. 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.justice.gov/psc.

Gainesville man arrested for stabbing a man in Keystone

KEYSTONE HEIGHTS – A Gainesville man wanted for attempted murder was arrested by Clay County Sheriff’s Office deputies when they recognized him walking shortly after the attack.
Justin Thomas Edward King, 25, was taken to the Clay County Jail after the victim was treated and released from the hospital for multiple stab wounds to his back in the 7800 block of State Road 100.
According to the arrest report, deputies responded to a reported stabbing. Deputies on patrol then spotted King after the victim was taken to the hospital.
The motive wasn’t listed in the heavily redacted report.
King was denied bond.

Man charged with armed robbery, terrorizing couple

ORANGE PARK – The Clay County Sheriff’s Office arrested a man after it determined he terrorized two people for more than an hour by holding them at gunpoint and threatening to kill them on Jan. 7.
Justin M. Walker, 31, was charged with two counts of kidnapping by terrorism, armed robbery, two counts of aggravated assault and domestic battery by strangulation after deputies were called to break up a disturbance in the 300 block of Crossing Boulevard.
A woman said Walker forced her to used Cash App to transfer money from her account into his.
Walker’s next court appearance is scheduled for March 6. Until then, he will remain in the Clay County Jail with a $415,018 bond.

Couple arrested after shooting forces two schools to lock down

ORANGE PARK – A couple from Jacksonville were arrested on Feb. 10 after the Clay County Sheriff’s Office said they fired at a second car at 10:43 a.m.
According to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Nathaniel Thomas and Natasha Baker-Archibald, both 23, were charged with discharging a firearm from a vehicle within 1,000 feet of another person and with child abuse after a Ford Mustang was hit with three bullets.
When deputies arrived, they found Baker-Archibald and Thomas in a white Ford on the corner of Anna and Campbell avenues. The Mustang stopped a few blocks away.
The shooting prompted a lockdown of Orange Park and Grove Park elementary schools, according to the Orange Park Police Department.
Investigation into the shooting is ongoing, according to CCSO.
Bond for both was set at $125,006.