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Press Release

Cape Coral Man Receives 30 Years In Prison For Producing And Possessing Child Pornography

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Florida

Fort Myers, FL – U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell has sentenced Joseph Spradlin (41, Cape Coral) to 30 years’ imprisonment for producing and possessing child pornography. He pleaded guilty on December 9, 2016.

 

According to the plea agreement, after downloading child pornography directly from Spradlin’s computer over a peer-to-peer network, members of the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force executed a search warrant at Spradlin’s residence. The agents located more than 65,000 images and 668 videos of child pornography on four thumb drives. Further investigation revealed that Spradlin had produced child pornography images and videos of an 8-year-old girl on at least two occasions.

 

This case was investigated by the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force, with assistance from the Cape Coral Police Department and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Charles Schmitz.

 

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.

Updated March 21, 2017

Topic
Project Safe Childhood