Jacksonville Man Sentenced To 15 Years In Federal Prison For Using Facebook To Solicit Child Pornography From A Minor Child

Jacksonville, Florida – United States District Judge Timothy J. Corrigan has sentenced Chad Jason Lansford (31, Jacksonville) to 15 years in federal prison for sending notices over the Internet soliciting images of child pornography from a 9 year old child.  He was also ordered to serve a 10 year term of supervised release and to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison. Lansford pleaded guilty on July 6, 2016.  He has been in custody since his arrest on March 12, 2015.    

According to court documents, in January 2015, law enforcement officers responded to a complaint from the mother of a 9 year old girl who had found several sexually explicit images on her daughter’s Facebook account. The mother identified two of the images as depicting her daughter.  A review of the child’s iPod revealed online conversations through Facebook between the child and Lansford, including a message Lansford had sent to the child on January 2, 2015, that included images of his genitalia.  During Lansford and the child’s online conversation that day, the child told Lansford that she was 9 years old.  Despite this knowledge, Lansford repeatedly requested that she take and send to him pornographic pictures of herself.  Eventually, the child complied with Lansford’s demands and sent him pornographic pictures of herself. 

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.  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 the 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.