Skip to main content
Press Release

St. Petersburg Man Sentenced To Nine Years For Child Pornography Offenses

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

Tampa, FL – U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven today sentenced Richard Wayne Johnson (68, St. Petersburg) to nine years in federal prison for transporting and possessing child pornography, followed by a lifetime of supervised release. In addition, the Court ordered Johnson to pay $7,000 in restitution to the victims of the offenses, and imposed a fine of $17,500. Johnson was also ordered to forfeit a desktop computer that had been used to facilitate the offenses.

Johnson pleaded guilty on August 25, 2014.

According to court documents, in April 2014, an undercover agent used a file sharing program to download Internet files containing child pornography. Further investigation traced the host computer back to Johnson. On May 1, 2014, agents executed a federal search warrant at his residence. During that search, and in a later forensic examination, agents found more than 3,600 videos and 476 images depicting child pornography on Johnson’s computer. Some of the child pornography on Johnson’s computer involved toddlers. 

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the St. Petersburg Police Department, and the Largo Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joseph W. Swanson. 

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.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Updated January 26, 2015