Orlando Middle School Employee Pleads Guilty To Distribution And Possession Of Child Sex Abuse Material

Ocala, Florida – Acting United States Attorney Sara C. Sweeney announces that Mitchell Regan (36, Leesburg) has pleaded guilty to two counts of distribution of child sex abuse material (CSAM) and one count of possession of CSAM. Regan faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison on each count, including a 5-year minimum sentence on each of the distribution offenses. A sentencing date has not yet been set. Regan is being detained pending the resolution of this case.

According to court documents, agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) executed a search warrant at Regan’s home on October 17, 2024. During a search of Regan’s cellphone, an HSI computer forensic agent located an image of CSAM in his photo gallery. Regan advised law enforcement that he was employed at a middle school and the Boys and Girls Club and that that he teaches chess club and music lessons. A subsequent review of Regan’s social media applications by law enforcement revealed Regan had distributed two videos of CSAM on June 24, 2024.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sarah Janette Swartzberg.

This is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 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, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue child victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.