Wauchula Man Sentenced For Producing Child Sexual Abuse Material

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Virginia Hernandez Covington has sentenced Christopher Froehlich (42, Wauchula) to 40 years in federal prison for producing child sexual abuse material. Froehlich entered a guilty plea on July 19, 2023.

According to court documents, Froehlich posed as a 15-year-old boy and connected with the 15-year-old victim via a live-streaming video service. Froehlich convinced the victim that they were in a relationship and coerced the child to produce sexually explicit videos and photos for Froehlich. When the child tried to stop producing sexually explicit videos and photos for Froehlich, Froehlich threatened to post the videos and photos to social media for the child’s family and friends to see. In June 2020, the child attempted to stop communication with Froehlich, at which point Froehlich posted the child’s nude photos to social media. Froehlich continued to contact the child until June 2022 by using various phone numbers and different usernames on social media platforms.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Abigail K. King and Courtney H. Derry.

This 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’ Office 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.