JACKSONVILLE, FL—U.S. District Judge Brian J. Davis has sentenced Christopher Shawn Warnock (43, Jacksonville) to seven years and six months in federal prison for receiving child pornography over the Internet. Warnock was also ordered to serve a 15-year term of supervision, and to register as a sex offender, upon his release from prison. He has been in custody since his arrest on December 17, 2014.

According to court documents, on October 30, 2014, an agent with the FBI in Newark, New Jersey began an undercover online investigation to identify individuals who were using the Internet to share images and videos depicting child pornography. The agent made online contact with Warnock and was able to download 24 videos of child pornography from his computer. Further investigation traced the computer to Warnock’s residence in Jacksonville.

On December 17, 2014, law enforcement officers executed a federal search warrant at Warnock’s residence and seized his computer. Warnock told the agents that he searches online for child pornography using certain key terms, and that he enjoys watching others having sex with children. Forensic analyses of Warnock’s computer revealed that it contained at least 13 videos depicting the sexual abuse of young children. Logs of online conversations, in which Warnock had indicated his desire to exchange videos of child pornography with other Internet users, were also recovered.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Newark and Jacksonville, and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

It is another case 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, 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.justice.gov/psc.