Pinellas County Man Sentenced To 50 Years In Prison For Production, Distribution, And Possession Of Child Sexual Abuse Material

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Mary Scriven has sentenced David Jacob Mitchell (38, Treasure Island) to 50 years to in federal prison for production, distribution and possession of child sexual abuse material and for sending obscene material to a minor, to be followed by 15 years of supervised release. The court also ordered Mitchell to forfeit electronic devices utilized in the crimes, pay restitution to the victims, and register as a sex offender. Mitchell had pleaded guilty on October 18, 2022.

According to court documents, in October 2017, Mitchell communicated with a minor and coerced and enticed her into producing images of child sexual abuse material. Between October 2021 and April 2022, Mitchell communicated with an undercover detective whom he believed to be a 13–14-year-old-girl and sent images and videos of himself masturbating. He encouraged the fictitious minor to send images and videos of herself performing sexual acts. Mitchell also sent the fictitious minor videos of children being sexually abused. Law enforcement ultimately searched Mitchell’s cellphone and recovered images and videos of prepubescent minors being sexually abused.

“Young children do not always understand or realize the internet is a dangerous place where sexual predators target and exploit their innocence,” said HSI Tampa Special Agent in Charge John Condon. “The investigative efforts of our HSI special agents and the Hernando Police Department, Mississippi, stopped this deviant from continuing to victimize our children.”

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Tampa, and the Hernando Police Department in Mississippi. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ilyssa M. Spergel.

This 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 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 victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.