Additional Federal Child Exploitation Charges For Former Live Oak Police Sergeant

Jacksonville, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announced today that a federal grand jury has returned a superseding indictment against Kyle Adam Kirby (35, Live Oak) charging him with production, attempted production, and possession of child pornography. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years, up to 30 years, in federal prison on each of the production and attempted production charges, and up to 30 years’ imprisonment on each of the possession charges. Kirby was arrested on October 27, 2015, and is being detained pending his trial. His arraignment on the superseding indictment is scheduled for March 24, 2016.

According to court documents, FBI agents and other law enforcement officers executed a federal search warrant at Kirby’s residence as the result of an online child pornography investigation. That same morning, the Live Oak police chief authorized the agents to inspect and search the computer located inside Kirby’s patrol car.  A forensic examination of the patrol car computer used by Kirby revealed that it contained images depicting minor children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. 

A superseding indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has violated one or more of the federal criminal laws, and every defendant is presumed innocent until, and unless, proven guilty.  

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

This 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.