Jacksonville Man Sentenced To 20 Years For Distributing Child Sex Abuse Videos Over The Internet

Jacksonville, Florida – United States District Judge Brian J. Davis has sentenced Pryce Elijah Demars (25, Jacksonville) to 20 years in federal prison for distributing child pornography over the internet. Demars had pleaded guilty on May 25, 2018. As part of his sentence, Demars must also serve a lifetime term of supervised release and register as a sex offender.

Demars was arrested on November 15, 2017, and has been in custody since that day. 

According to court documents, as well as evidence and testimony introduced during Demars’s sentencing hearing, FBI agents and other officers executed a federal search warrant at Demars’s residence in Jacksonville on November 15, 2017, in connection with an online child exploitation investigation. From August 3, 2016, through April 12, 2017, Demars had distributed videos depicting young children being sexually abused over the internet. He admitted, among other things, that he had searched for child pornography on the internet, downloaded it, and distributed it to another individual in exchange for $800-$1,000 and several video games.

FBI agents were also able to identify a minor child whom Demars had sexually molested on several occasions. Demars also had offered to take explicit photos of the child and had introduced the child to another individual, over the internet, to further victimize the child through online sexual exploitation.   

“Investigating child abuse and exploitation is among the most important work in the FBI,” said Charles P. Spencer, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Jacksonville Division. “This case represents both our relentless pursuit of predators who seek to harm innocent children, and steadfast determination to ensure they are sentenced to the maximum punishment possible under law.” 

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Jacksonville, Plano (Texas), and Springfield (Illinois), 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.