JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 39-year-old Interlachen man pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to receiving child pornography over the Internet, authorities announced Monday.
U.S. attorneys said Franklin Stuart King faces a mandatory minimum penalty of not less than five years, up to 20 years in federal prison and a potential life term of supervision.
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According to court documents, an agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations began an investigation to identify area individuals who had access to and/or were trading images and videos depicting child pornography over the Internet.
The investigation revealed that a host computer using a particular Internet protocol address in the Jacksonville area was hosting pornographic images of children, while using a particular file-sharing program, authorities said.
The agent made a successful connection to the host computer at this IP address and successfully downloaded several image files directly from the host computer that depicted child pornography. U.S. attorneys said further investigation revealed that the IP address resolved to a particular home in Interlachen, where King resided.
HSI agents and other officers subsequently executed a search warrant at King's home and seized, among other things, King's computer and other items of electronic media, authorities said.
U.S. attorneys said King was at the home during the execution of the search warrant and told agents that he viewed images of underage kids on his computer, that while using a particular file-sharing program he would do random searches on the computer, and that he had seen images of nude minor children while on the computer.
King also told agents that he used certain specific search terms to find these images and videos and said, "there is like a small spark somewhere in [his] head that likes to see [child pornography]," according to authorities.
King said that he had been viewing child pornography for two or three years. Officials said a subsequent analysis of King's computer media revealed that it contained a total of 808 images depicting child pornography.
King has been in custody since his arrest on Oct. 10. Officials said a sentencing date has not yet been set.