St. Johns County Man Indicted on Federal Charges Involving Extortion and Child Pornography

JACKSONVILLE, FL—United States Attorney A. Brian Albritton announces that Lucas Michael Chansler (age 26, of St. Johns County with a Jacksonville mailing address) made his initial appearance in federal court today in Jacksonville after having been indicted on four counts of making extortionate communications over the Internet, nine counts of producing child pornography, one count of receiving child pornography, and one count of possessing child pornography. For each of the extortion counts, Chansler faces up to two years in federal prison. For each of the production counts, Chansler faces at least 15 years and up to 30 years in federal prison. For the receipt count, he faces at least five years and up to 20 years in federal prison. On the possession count, Chansler faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. Chansler’s arraignment and detention hearing will be held in federal court in Jacksonville before United States Magistrate Judge Thomas E. Morris on April 21, 2010, at 11:00 a.m. Chansler is currently being detained.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Child Predator CyberCrime Unit of the Florida Attorney General’s Office, and the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

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 better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.