Jamaican National Sentenced To Over 5 Years In Prison For Transporting And Possessing Child Pornography

Orlando, Florida –United States District Court Judge Carlos E. Mendoza yesterday sentenced Anthony Carl Spence (45, Jamaica) to five years and eight months in federal prison for transporting and possessing child pornography. He was found guilty by a federal jury on July 26, 2017. Spence was indicted on March 8, 2017.

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, Spence arrived at the Orlando International Airport from Jamaica on February 6, 2017, with a smartphone. After a routine border search of the smartphone, law enforcement located a video that depicted an adult male sexually abusing a toddler. Later, officers located a second video depicting a young child engaged in sexually explicit conduct. During an interview with law enforcement, Spence admitted that he had shared the videos with multiple people in Jamaica, but claimed that he thought he had deleted the videos before coming to the United States. 

"This predator was discovered as he entered our country," said HSI Tampa Special Agent in Charge James C. Spero. "HSI special agents and our U.S. Customs and Border Protection partners will continue to use our border search authorities to keep our citizens safe."

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shawn P. Napier.

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 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.justice.gov/psc.