Former JSO Corrections Officer Indicted For Receipt, Distribution, And Possession Of Child Pornography

Jacksonville, Florida – Acting United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces the arrest and unsealing of an indictment charging former Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO) Corrections Officer Leon Perry Brooks, Sr. (39, Jacksonville) with two counts of receipt of child pornography, one count of distribution of child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography. If convicted on each of the receipt counts and the distribution count, he faces a minimum of 5 years, up to 20 years in federal prison. On the possession of child pornography charge, Brooks faces a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment.

Brooks will make his initial appearance in federal court today, in Jacksonville, at 2:15 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate James R. Klindt.

According to the indictment, the offenses occurred between June 19, 2012, and May 20, 2013, and involve certain named computer files depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of the federal criminal laws, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), in conjunction with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Diidri Robinson.

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 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 better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.   

Click HERE to view indictment.