Ocala Man Indicted For Producing Child Sexual Abuse Material

Jacksonville, Florida – United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announces the return of an indictment charging Justin Charles Brown (45, Ocala) with producing child sex abuse material (CSAM) and possessing CSAM. If convicted on all counts, Brown faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years, up to 60 years, in federal prison. In addition, he would be required to serve a minimum term of 5 years’ supervised release and register as a sex offender. The indictment also notifies Brown that the United States intends to forfeit a cellular phone, which was used in the offense.

According to a previously issued criminal complaint, Brown came into contact with a child in California on social media around February 2024. Brown sent files of CSAM to the child and asked the child to produce child sex material for Brown.  The child disclosed to the FBI that on one occasion she had broadcast herself being sexually abused by a friend of the family to Brown, at his request, via Facetime.

On October 2025, the FBI executed a federal search warrant at Brown’s residence and seized his cellular phone. A review of the phone revealed that it contained CSAM, including a video of the child in California being sexually abused by the family friend in February 2024.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Laura Cofer Taylor.

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.