Port St. Lucie Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for Producing and Distributing Child Pornography, Coercing Minors to Produce Child Pornography, and Possessing Child Pornography

A Port St. Lucie resident was sentenced to life in prison for producing and distributing child pornography, coercing minors to produce child pornography, and possessing child pornography.

Benjamin G. Greenberg, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Mark Selby, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), made the announcement.

Scott Joseph Trader, 32, of Port St. Lucie, Florida, previously pled guilty to enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b); distribution of material containing visual depictions of sexual exploitation of minors, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2252(a)(2) & (b)(1); possession of matter containing visual depictions of sexual exploitation of minors, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2252(a)(4)(B) & (b)(2); and production of material containing visual depictions of sexual exploitation of minors, in violation of Title 18 U.S.C §§ 2251(a) & (e) (Case No. 17-CR-14047-Middlebrooks).   

            According to court records, since at least November 2014 through May 31, 2017, Trader video recorded himself sexually abusing two minor girls entrusted to his care, one of whom was two years old.  Trader also coerced dozens of minor victims online to send him child pornography using social media applications and collected vast amounts of child pornography from the internet, including the sexual abuse of infants and toddlers, sadism and masochism, and bestiality.  Trader distributed large amounts of child pornography over the internet to adults and to minor victims as young as eight years old, which included the videos/images of the defendant’s own sexual abuse of children.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. 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, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Mr. Greenberg commended the investigation efforts of ICE-HSI, ICE-HSI in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and the Port Saint Lucie Police Department.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Marton Gyires.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.