Gulfport Man Sentenced to Almost Six Years in Federal Prison for Accessing Child Pornography

Gulfport, Miss. – Michael Alex Miller, 19, of Gulfport, was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden to 70 months in federal prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, for accessing with intent to view visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Michelle A. Sutphin, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Mississippi.

Judge Ozerden also ordered Miller to pay $5,000 under the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015 and $3,000 under the Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act of 2018, in addition to $18,000 in restitution.

In February 2019, the FBI received information that a specific Internet Protocol (IP) address associated with a Gulfport residence had previously accessed a website used to access child pornography. On February 8, 2019, agents went to that Gulfport address and Michael Alex Miller answered the door. Miller agreed to voluntarily speak with the agents who conducted a non-custodial interview with Miller. Miller admitted to looking at child pornography on his cellular telephone and viewing or accessing multiple images of the same. Forensic examination of Miller’s cellular devices confirmed Miller accessed multiple images of minors engaging in such conduct. A review of the images by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children also confirmed that the images included known minors.

Miller was indicted on February 20, 2019, for accessing the images of the minors. He pled guilty before Judge Ozerden on April 25, 2019.

The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Jones. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. 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 as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.