Former Pasco County Aircraft Mechanic Sentenced To 15 Years For Child Exploitation Offenses

Jacksonville, Florida – United States District Judge Brian J. Davis has sentenced Russel Lee Orr (42, Trinity) to 15 years in federal prison for attempted online enticement of a child to engage in sexual activity, attempted production of child pornography, and for soliciting for child pornography online. A federal jury found Orr found guilty on July 1, 2016. Prior to his arrest, Orr had worked as an aircraft mechanic in the Tampa area.      

According to testimony and evidence introduced during the four-day trial, between March 10 and May 20, 2015, Orr engaged in a series of text messages and email conversations with an individual he believed to be a 14-year-old girl. The “child” was actually a detective with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office. During the course of the conversations, Orr discussed in detail his desire to meet the “child” for sex. He also repeatedly solicited the “child” to produce and send photos of her genitalia to him. 

On May 21, 2015, FBI agents and other law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Orr’s apartment and arrested him.  During the search of the home, the agents located and seized a smart phone that Orr had used to communicate with the “child” and also to search the internet for materials related to the sexual exploitation of children.   

This case was investigated by the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, and the FBI in Jacksonville and Tampa. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

It is another case 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, 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.