Convicted Sex Offender Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison on Child Exploitation Charges

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – A convicted sex offender was sentenced on child exploitation charges, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Carlton L. Peeples.

Chief U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler sentenced Austin Jeremy Bobo, 34, of Trussville, to 180 months in prison followed by a lifetime term of supervised release.  Bobo pleaded guilty to transportation of child pornography in May. 

According to the plea agreement, on October 30, 2020, a social media outlet submitted a CyberTip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) relating to an account that uploaded images containing child sexual abuse materials. The investigation revealed that the account belonged to Bobo.  Between November 2019 and October 2020, Bobo uploaded numerous images of child pornography to the account. Bobo was convicted in the Circuit Court for Lee County, Alabama, of an offense related to child pornography in March 2016.

FBI Birmingham’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force (CEHTTF), Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA), and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney John M. Hundscheid 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.