Palm Bay Man Sentenced To 30 Years In Federal Prison After Pleading Guilty To Producing Child Porn

By  //  February 20, 2017

pleaded guilty on December 1, 2016

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement arrested Jerry Hall, 49, of Palm Bay, on 10 counts of possession of child pornography back in 2016. (BCSO image)

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – U.S. District Judge Carlos E. Mendoza has sentenced Jerry Hall (49, Palm Bay) to 30 years in federal prison for producing child pornography.

The Court also ordered him to forfeit electronic equipment that had been used during the offense.

Hall pleaded guilty on December 1, 2016.

According to court documents, in June 2015, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) began investigating Hall for downloading child pornography using file sharing software. During the investigation, FDLE came into possession of a memory card that contained images of sexually explicit conduct of a minor taken by Hall on his cellphone in June 2014. At the time the images were taken, the minor was under the age of 10.

FDLE also recovered a custom built computer belonging to Hall and a laptop previously used by him. A forensic examination of those computers revealed numerous images and video files depicting child pornography, some of which contained young children.

“Child pornography is an atrocious crime because each movie or photograph represents a child who has been sexually abused,” said FDLE Special Agent in Charge Danny Banks.

“FDLE will continue to aggressively investigate anyone who preys on our children.”

“This child predator’s crimes will never be erased in the minds of the children that he victimized,” said Susan L. McCormick, special agent in charge of HSI Tampa. “This long prison sentence serves as a warning to child predators that these crimes will be discovered, will be prosecuted and will be punished severely.”

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This case was investigated by U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sean P. Shecter.

This 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.justice.gov/psc.