Shalimar Man Charged with Child Exploitation Crimes

PENSACOLA, FL—Joshua Douglas Taylor, 23, of Shalimar, Florida, appeared in federal court today to face charges associated with his receipt and possession of child pornography. Taylor has been charged by a federal grand jury in a three-count indictment with receipt, transportation, and possession of child pornography between October 2011 and February 2012. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years, up to a possible maximum sentence of 20 years, in prison. His case is set for trial on July 8, 2013, before Chief U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers.

The indictment results from an investigation by the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, with participating agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Walton County Sheriff’s Department, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, and the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Department. The case will be prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Ryan Love.

This prosecution is being brought as part of the Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorney’s Offices 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 exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

An indictment is merely an allegation by a grand jury that a defendant has committed a violation of federal criminal law and is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.