Orange Park Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Child Pornography Charge

JACKSONVILLE, FL—United States Attorney Robert E. O’Neill announced today that Jeffrey Dean McMillan (21, Orange Park) pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to possessing images and videos depicting child pornography on his computer. McMillan faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and a potential life term of supervised release. McMillan has been in custody since his arrest on December 10, 2010.

According to court documents, in November 2010, an investigator with the Florida Attorney General’s Office (AGO), Child Predator Cybercrime Unit, connected to the Internet and was able to identify a particular Internet Protocol (IP) address of a host computer located at a residence in Orange Park, Florida. That computer was sharing files depicting child pornography over the Internet. On December 10, 2010, agents with AGO and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as well as officers with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, executed a search warrant at McMillan’s residence. The agents made contact with McMillan. After securing the residence, the agents interviewed McMillan. During this interview, McMillan admitted, among other things, that he had been downloading child pornography “since puberty.” When asked about his preferences, he stated, “I don’t really like anything under [age] 9, but I know there’s stuff in there younger than that.” Shortly after the interview, McMillan was placed under arrest.

Subsequent forensic analysis of McMillan’s computer revealed that it contained numerous images and videos depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

This case was investigated by the Child Predator Cybercrime Unit of the Florida Attorney General’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

Th is 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 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.