Lecanto Man Sentenced To More Than 16 Years In Federal Prison For Distributing Child Sex Abuse Material

Ocala, Florida – Senior United District Judge John Antoon II has sentenced Jason Ronald Santore (26, Lecanto) to 16 years and 8 months years in federal prison for possession and distribution of child sex abuse material. Santore had pleaded guilty on June 3, 2022.

According to testimony and court documents, Santore used the internet to transmit videos depicting the sexual abuse of children to a cooperating defendant.  Based on these transmission, federal agents obtained search warrants for Santore’s residence, electronic devices, and online storage accounts. Agents located thousands of images and videos of child sex abuse material on Santore’s online accounts, many of which depicted the sexual abuse of infants and toddlers.

This case was 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 (CEOS), 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.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney William S. Hamilton.