VA Doctor Sentenced to Four Years for Possession of Child Pornography

GAINESVILLE, FL—Christopher S. Carter, 41, of Gainesville, was sentenced yesterday to 48 months in prison and a lifetime of supervised release following his prison term for possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Pamela C. Marsh, Northern District of Florida. Carter, the former chief of Surgical Inpatient Care at the North Florida Veteran’s Hospital, pleaded guilty on May 14, 2010, before Senior U.S. District Court Judge Maurice M. Paul, to a criminal information charging him with one count of possession of child pornography. During the course of his plea, Smith admitted that he used a computer to possess and view images of child pornography that he had downloaded from the Internet using specialized software.

Ms. Marsh praised the work of the FBI and the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, whose joint investigation led to the conviction and sentence in this case. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Williams.

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 U.S. 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 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.