U.S. Forest Service Employee and His Stepson Both Indicted on Federal Child Pornography Charges

JACKSONVILLE, FL—United States Attorney Robert E. O’Neill announces that Derek Alan Lee (44) and Jeffrey Dean McMillan (21) both of Orange Park, Florida, have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Jacksonville, in separate cases involving child pornography charges. At the time of their arrests, Lee was an employee with the United States Forest Service, and he is the stepfather of McMillan. Lee is charged with receipt, attempted transportation, and possession of child pornography. On each of the receipt and attempted transportation counts, Lee faces at least five years and up to 20 years in federal prison. On the possession count, Lee faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. McMillan is charged with possession of child pornography and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. Lee and McMillan had their initial appearances in federal court today. Lee’s arraignment and detention hearing will be held in federal court in Jacksonville before United States Magistrate Judge Joel B. Toomey on February 10, 2011, at 9:30 a.m., and McMillan’s arraignment and detention hearing will be held before United States Magistrate Judge James R. Klindt on February 9, 2011, at 2:00 p.m. Both Lee and McMillan have been in custody since their arrests on December 10, 2010 at their shared Orange Park residence.

This case was investigated by the Child Predator Cybercrime Unit of the Florida Attorney General’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

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 better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

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 until, and unless, proven guilty.