Skip to main content
Press Release

Computer Networking Expert Sentenced To 8 Years In Prison For Receipt And Possession Of Child Pornography

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Florida

Orlando, FL – U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton, Jr. sentenced Juan Gonzalez (60, Palm Bay) earlier this week to 8 years in federal prison for receipt and possession of child pornography. As part of his sentence, he was also ordered to serve a 10-year term of supervision, following his incarceration. Gonzalez pleaded guilty on July 8, 2013.

According to court documents, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) began investigating an Internet Protocol (IP) address that was located at a home in Palm Bay, Florida, where images of child pornography were available for download via a peer-to-peer file sharing program. HSI agents then executed a search warrant at the Palm Bay residence. However, after searching the residence and speaking to the home’s occupant, the agents learned that the occupant’s former neighbor, Juan Gonzalez, had been using the occupant’s wireless signal to download and view child pornography, without the occupant’s permission. 

Further investigation identified numerous IP addresses, through different Internet service providers, that Gonzalez used to download and view child pornography.  Employing his knowledge of computers, Gonzalez used Internet service providers that allowed him to direct his Internet traffic through Virtual Private Network services to obtain IP addresses, which may geo-locate to a different part of the country or the world. On December 13, 2013, agents connected to Gonzalez’s assigned IP address at his new home in Palm Bay and found dozens of files indicative of child pornography.  During an interview with agents, Gonzalez admitted to having a large amount of child pornography on his computers.  He also stated that he had been viewing child pornography for more than ten years. A forensic analysis of Gonzalez’s computers and electronic equipment revealed 174 movies and more than 1,200 still images of child pornography.
This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joseph M. Schuster.

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 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.

Updated January 26, 2015