Jacksonville Man Sentenced To Five Years In Federal Prison For Receiving Child Pornography Over The Internet

Jacksonville, Florida -United States District Judge Marcia Morales Howard today sentenced John Carver Lester (61, Jacksonville) to five years in federal prison for receiving child pornography over the Internet. Lester was also ordered to serve an 8-year term of supervised release, forfeit five computers, and register as a sex offender. He pleaded guilty on April 25, 2013, and has been in the custody of the United States Marshals Service since his arrest on December 20, 2012.

According to court documents, an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in Jacksonville, began an investigation to identify individuals that had access to and/or were trading images and videos depicting child pornography over the Internet. The agent determined that a computer in the Jacksonville area was hosting images of child pornography using a file sharing program. The agent made a connection to this computer and downloaded several video files. Each of the videos depicted young children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Further investigation revealed that the IP address resolved back to Lester’s Jacksonville residence.

According to court documents, on December 10, 2012, FBI agents and other law enforcement officers executed a federal search warrant at Lester’s residence and seized, among other things, five computers and several hundred compact disks.

During an interview with law enforcement, Lester stated that he had been downloading child pornography for approximately five years and had developed a curiosity for it. Lester also stated that he was worried about possibly wanting to touch a child. A subsequent forensic analysis of the computers used by Lester revealed that they contained a total of 261 videos and 844 images depicting child pornography.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 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 (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.