Calhoun County Man Sentenced to More than Eight Years in Prison

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A Calhoun County man has been sentenced to prison after pleading guilty for possession of a sexually explicit video of a child, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and FBI Special Agent in Charge Carlton L. Peeples.

U.S. District Judge Annmarie Axon sentenced Joseph Skylar Weeks, 32, of Jacksonville, Alabama, to 97 months in prison followed by 30 years of supervised release.  In June, Weeks plead guilty to possession of child pornography.

According to the plea agreement, On August 7, 2022, an undercover law enforcement officer (UC) responded to an ad posted by Weeks on a social media application. Between August 2022 and October 2022, Weeks communicated with the UC, whom Weeks believed to be a 14-year-old girl, about arranging a time to meet. On October 13th, Weeks arrived at the meeting location and was arrested by Homewood police officers. A search warrant was obtained for Weeks’ cell phone where investigators found a video containing child sexual abuse material.  This conviction will require Weeks to register as a sex offender in accordance with the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). 

The FBI investigated the case along with the Homewood Police Department. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency assisted in the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel S. McBrayer prosecuted the case.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better 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.