Largo Man Sentenced to More Than 12 Years in Prison for Child Pornography Offenses

TAMPA—U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington sentenced David Lee Franklin (62, Largo) yesterday to 12 years and seven months in federal prison for transportation, receipt, and possession of child pornography. The court also ordered Franklin to forfeit computers, hard drives, and assorted CDs and DVDs that were involved in the offenses. Franklin pleaded guilty on February 26, 2013.

According to court documents, an undercover detective downloaded multiple image and video files depicting child pornography from Franklin over several months beginning in November 2011. On June 13, 2012, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Franklin’s residence. Franklin agreed to an interview and confessed to downloading and viewing child pornography. Also at the time of the search, the officers observed that Franklin was downloading child pornography via the Internet. The officers seized Franklin’s computers and related equipment. Subsequent forensics review found that they contained several thousand images and videos of child pornography.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, the Largo Police Department, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as part of the FBI’s Violent Crimes Against Children Task Force. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joseph W. Swanson.

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. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “Resources.“