Memphis Man Pleads Guilty to Distributing Child Pornography

Memphis, TN – A Memphis man has pleaded guilty to distributing multiple images and videos of child pornography. Edward L. Stanton III, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, announced the plea today.

According to information presented in court, Julius Ford, 26, of Memphis, sent images and videos of children engaged in sexual conduct to others.

On September 4, 2014, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents in Memphis received an investigative lead about an individual in the Memphis area using a flagged email account to send and receive emails containing child exploitation material. The investigation revealed that the IP address and login activity associated with the email account was registered to Ford at a residence in the Frayser area of Memphis.

On September 22, a covert investigator with the Memphis Child Exploitation Task Force contacted the flagged email account, which resulted in a series of emails sent from the account to the covert investigator. The emails contained child exploitation material, including videos depicting prepubescent children engaged in sexual acts with other minors and adults.

Law enforcement executed a search warrant at Ford’s residence on February 2, 2015. Agents seized a hard drive, two laptops, an iPhone, and a thumb drive. Forensic analysis of these devices revealed approximately 1807 images and 277 videos of child pornography. Ford later admitted to being the user of the mail account and that he had used the account to trade child pornography. The defendant also admitted to sending emails from the account containing videos of child pornography to the covert investigator.

On Wednesday, March 16, 2016, Ford pled guilty before U.S. District Judge John T. Fowlkes Jr. to one count of distribution of child pornography.

Ford is scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday, July 7, 2016. He faces a minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of 20 years imprisonment.

This case is being investigated by the Memphis Child Exploitation Task Force. The collective is comprised of federal and local law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation; HSI; Shelby County Sheriff’s Department; Memphis Police Department; U.S. Postal Investigation Service; U.S. Marshals Service; and the U.S. Secret Service.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kasey Weiland is prosecuting this case on the government’s behalf.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), 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, PSC 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 PSC, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/. For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/resources.html and click on the tab "resources."