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Press Release

Merritt Island Man Sentenced To More Than Six Years For Possession And Receipt Of Child Pornography

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Florida

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton, Jr. has sentenced James Otis Liptak (36, Merritt Island) to six years and six months in federal prison for receipt and possession of child pornography. The Court also ordered him to forfeit specific computers and hard drives on which the images of child pornography had been found. Liptak pleaded guilty on October 22, 2014.

According to court documents, on July 25, 2014, a Brevard County Deputy Sheriff and FBI Task Force Agent assigned to the Child Exploitation Task Force determined that someone using a computer with a specific Internet Protocol (IP) address was advertising suspected child pornography through a peer-to-peer file sharing program. Further investigation revealed that the computer was located at a residence in Merritt Island, Florida. Agents subsequently executed a federal search warrant at the house and found computers in Liptak’s bedroom. During an interview with agents, Liptak admitted that he had searched the Internet for the images and movies, and that he had stored them on his computer. A forensic examination of the computer’s hard drives revealed more than 5,000 images and 113 movies of child pornography.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Child Exploitation Task Force. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Bruce S. Ambrose.

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 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.justice.gov/psc

Updated April 6, 2015

Topic
Project Safe Childhood