Palatka Man Sentenced to More Than Eight Years in Federal Prison for Receiving and Possessing Child Pornography

JACKSONVILLE—United States District Judge Marcia Morales Howard sentenced Travis Rocky Dixon (36, Palatka) yesterday to eight years and nine months in federal prison for receiving and possessing videos of child pornography using the Internet. In addition, he was ordered to serve a 10-year term of supervision, following his incarceration, and to register as a sex offender. A federal jury found Dixon guilty on November 15, 2013. According to testimony and evidence introduced during the trial, during 2011, two different law enforcement officers downloaded videos depicting child pornography over the Internet from a host computer using Internet protocol (IP) addresses that resolved back to Dixon’s residence in Palatka. On January 18, 2012, a federal search warrant was executed at the residence. FBI forensic examiners entered the residence and discovered that Dixon’s computer was, at that time, actively downloading video files with titles indicative of child pornography. During an interview, Dixon told agents that he was the primary user of the computer, that he used a file sharing program to download video files of young girls, and that he had been looking at child pornography for about one year. A forensic analysis of Dixon’s computer revealed that it contained at least 64 videos depicting children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Daytona Beach, Miami, and Jacksonville; the Clewiston (Florida) Police Department; and the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

It is another 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.