Special Agent Indicted for Possession and Receipt of Child Pornography

TAMPA—United States Attorney Robert E. O’Neill announces that James Charles Cafferty (45, Largo) was indicted on October 19, 2011 for possession and receipt of child pornography. Cafferty faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison on the charge involving the receipt of child pornography, and up to 10 years in federal prison on the possession of child pornography charge. At the time of his arrest, Cafferty was a special agent in Diplomatic Security with the Department of State.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, State Department Bureau of Diplomatic Security, and the Largo Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Colleen Murphy Davis.

The 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.”