Palm Coast Man Indicted on Federal Charges of Receiving and Possessing Child Pornography and Destruction of Evidence

JACKSONVILLE, FL—United States Attorney Robert E. O’Neill announces that Kamil Mezalka (21, Palm Coast) was indicted by a federal jury yesterday. The indictment charges Mezalka with two counts of receiving child pornography over the Internet, one count of possession of child pornography, and one count of destruction of evidence. If convicted of the receipt counts, Mezalka faces at least five years and up to 20 years in federal prison on each count. If convicted of the possession count, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. If convicted of destruction of evidence, Mezalka faces up to 20 years in federal prison. He was arrested on May 8, 2012 at his residence in Palm Coast. On May 16, 2012, Mezalka was ordered detained pending the resolution of this case.

According to the criminal complaint, on May 8, 2012, agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed a federal search warrant at Mezalka’s residence. After the agents entered the home, Mezalka ignored commands to exit his bedroom. When the agents entered the bedroom, Mezalka was inside. He was holding a samurai sword that he had stabbed into the side of a desktop computer. Mezalka ignored commands to drop the sword, and the agents detained him. An examination of Mezalka’s computer revealed hundreds of files depicting the sexual abuse of children. Mezalka was subsequently arrested.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office. 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 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 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.”

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.