Bradford County Man Indicted on Federal Child Pornography Charges

JACKSONVILLE, FL—United States Attorney Robert E. O’Neill announced today that Doyce Dean Griffis (age 48, Starke) has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Jacksonville on child pornography charges. Griffis is charged with seven counts of production of child pornography, two counts of receiving child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography. On each of the production counts, Griffis faces a mandatory minimum of not less than 15 years and up to 30 years in federal prison. On each of the receipt counts, he faces a mandatory minimum of not less than five years and up to 20 years in prison. On the possession count, Griffis faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. He was arrested on April 26, 2011 and is currently in state custody in Bradford County on related charges.

According to court documents, from February 2000 until April 26, 2011, Griffis operated and maintained a tanning bed in an outbuilding at his residence located in Starke. Griffis engaged in a business operation in which customers paid to use the tanning bed. Customers made payments by placing money in a payment slot in the wall of the room of the outbuilding and gained entry into the space using an entry code, provided by Grffis, to unlock the door.

According to the indictment, customers believed that space containing the tanning bed was secure, and that their privacy would be protected. However, unbeknownst to his customers, the room had been equipped by Griffis with a two-way mirror that allowed him to view the room from a second concealed room. Griffis also made a hole in an air vent near the foot of the tanning bed that allowed him to view the customers as they lay inside the tanning bed. Using the two-way mirror and the hole in the air vent, Griffis surreptitiously made video recordings of dozens of female customers, including minors.

This case was investigated by the Bradford County Sheriff’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Immigration and Custom’s Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

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 until, and unless, proven guilty.

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 the 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. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov and click on the tab “other resources.”