Daytona Beach Men Arrested for Producing Child Pornography

ORLANDO—United States Attorney Robert E. O’Neill announces the filing of a criminal complaint charging Dennis Brian Devlin (57) and Michael C. Ehmen (20), both of Daytona Beach, Florida, with aiding and abetting each other in the sexual exploitation of a minor. Devlin also was charged with possession of child pornography. If convicted on all counts, Devlin faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in federal prison and a maximum total penalty of 40 years in federal prison. Ehmen faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in federal prison and maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison.

According to the criminal complaint affidavit, on or about January 20 and 22, 2011, Devlin and Ehmen, aiding and abetting each other, employed and used a 13-year-old child to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing visual depictions of that conduct. The affidavit alleges that on both dates, Ehmen drove the child to the Desert Inn in Daytona Beach, Florida, where Devlin, using an iPhone and video camera, took pictures and video taped the child, while the minor was made to engage in sexually explicit activity. On February 2, 2011, agents executed a federal search warrant at the Desert Inn where Devlin lived, and found several iPhones and numerous CDs and DVDs concealed in the ceiling of Devlin’s bathroom. Agents conducted a forensic examination of the iPhones and found the sexually explicit images of the child on the iPhone. They also recovered a DVD which contained video of the child and Ehmen engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Devlin can be heard in the background of the DVD directing the child and offering the child money. Agents also found child pornography images in Devlin’s suite.

A criminal complaint is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of the federal criminal and until, proven guilty.

The 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 the 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 locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov and click on the tab “other resources,” or please visit the Attorney General of Florida’s website, www.safeflorida.net.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Karen L. Gable.