Convicted Sex Offender Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Child Pornography

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A Jefferson County man has been sentenced for committing child sexual exploitation crimes, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona.

U.S. District Court Judge Annemarie Axon sentenced Benjamin Ross Norris, 44, of Pinson, Alabama, to 240 months in prison, followed by a life term of supervised release. Norris was also ordered to pay $30,500 in restitution to the child victims of his crimes. Norris previously pleaded guilty to transportation of child pornography and possession of child pornography.

According to the plea agreement, on May 28, 2022, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency received four CyberTipline Reports (CyberTips) from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding two internet accounts that were being used to transmit child sexual abuse material. Both accounts were associated with Norris. On July 22, 2022, state search warrants were obtained for Norris’s residence in Pinson, Alabama, and another location associated with Norris in Trussville, Alabama. Multiple electronic devices were seized from the properties. The two internet accounts listed in the CyberTips were found on Norris’s cell phone. The forensic examination of his electronic devices revealed a total of 179 files of child pornography. At the time of this investigation, Norris had a prior conviction for possession of child pornography.     

FBI Birmingham’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force investigated the case along with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and Homewood Police Department. Assistant United States Attorneys R. Leann White and Lee Gilmer prosecuted the case.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, and to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.