Federal Jury Finds Jacksonville Man Guilty Of Distributing Child Sex Abuse Videos

Jacksonville, Florida – Following a five-day trial, a federal jury has found Jason James Neiheisel (28, Jacksonville) guilty of sharing child sex abuse videos and making them available for online for distribution. He faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 5 years, up to 40 years, in federal prison and a potential life term of supervised release. A sentencing date has not yet been set. FBI agents arrested Neiheisel on May 4, 2017.

According to evidence and testimony presented at trial, an FBI task force officer conducted an online investigation of individuals using the internet to trade child pornography. He identified a host computer that was offering child pornography for distribution using a file-sharing network and downloaded approximately 48 videos, several of which depicted young children being sexually abused. The host computer was later traced to Neiheisel’s home. On April 11, 2017, agents made contact with Neiheisel at his apartment, where he told them that he had downloaded child pornography for “a while,” and that he enjoyed the “thrill of the hunt” to see what kind of child pornography files he could find. A subsequent forensic examination of Neiheisel’s tablet revealed no child pornography but confirmed that Neiheisel had used the tablet to access the file-sharing network. Neiheisel admitted that he knew that he had made the child pornography videos available to others on the file-sharing network.

This case was investigated by the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.

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, 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.justice.gov/psc.