Ocala Man Pleads Guilty To Receipt And Distribution Of Child Pornography

Ocala, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that Terry Scott Hilliard II (29, Ocala) has pleaded guilty to receipt and distribution of child pornography.  He faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 5 years, up to a maximum sentence of 20 years, in federal prison.  A sentencing hearing has not yet been set.     

According to the plea agreement, Hilliard was arrested by federal agents on July 8, 2014, during the execution of a search warrant at his Ocala residence.  The search warrant was executed in connection with an online investigation into persons receiving and distributing images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  Hilliard admitted to the agents that he had been receiving and distributing these types of images for at least a year.  A review of his email account revealed numerous videos and photographs of children under the age of 12 engaged in sexually explicit conduct. 

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert E. Bodnar, Jr.

The 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 exploit children via the Internet, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.