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Press Release

Samurai Sword Wielding Palm Coast Man Sentenced To 10 Years In Federal Prison For Receiving Child Pornography

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

Jacksonville, Florida - U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard today sentenced Kamil Mezalka (21, Palm Coast) to 10 years in federal prison for receiving child pornography over the Internet. As part of his sentence, Mezalka is also required to serve a 10-year term of supervised release, following his release from prison, and ordered to forfeit his computers and other digital media.

According to court documents, in March 2012, an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Philadelphia began an Internet undercover investigation to identify persons using a particular file sharing program to obtain and share child pornography. Using a computer, the agent logged into this file sharing program and observed that an individual using a particular screen name was logged into the network. The agent browsed the user’s shared directory and observed that over 4,000 files were being shared therein, many of which contained titles and descriptors indicative of child pornography and the sexual abuse of children. The investigation revealed that during the time frame of these two download sessions, this particular IP address was issued to an account registered to an individual at a residence in Palm Coast, Florida. Subsequent investigation revealed that Kamil Mezalka was an occupant of this residence.

On May 8, 2012, FBI agents executed a federal search warrant at Mezalka’s residence. As agents gained entry to the residence, Mezalka came out of a second floor bedroom, observed the agents, and quickly turned and went back inside the same bedroom and closed the door. Despite repeated commands to come out of the bedroom, Mezalka remained in the bedroom and proceeded to use a samurai sword to attempt to destroy his computers and compact disks. Agents made entry into Mezalka’s bedroom, where he was eventually arrested. During an interview, Mezalka admitted to, among other things, having a file sharing program on his computer which he used to download pornography that included child pornography. He further stated that most of it would be on the laptop computer and that some of the images might be on the desktop computer.

During the search, the agents seized, among other things, a desktop computer and a laptop computer. Both of these computers were damaged by Mezalka’s use of the samurai sword. Subsequent forensic analysis revealed that one hard drive contained over 12,000 images and over 3,000 videos, of which at least 500 images and 100 videos depicted child pornography.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Philadelphia and Jacksonville, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

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, 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.usdoj.gov/psc. for more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."

Updated January 26, 2015