Press Release
☷Jacksonville Man Pleads Guilty to Attempting to Use a 9 Year Old Child to Produce Photos of Sexual Abuse
Federal Bureau of Investigation ( By Press Release office)
Apr 28,2022
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Jacksonville Man Pleads Guilty To Attempting To Use A 9 - Year - Old Child To Produce Photos Of Sexual Abuse Jacksonville , Florida –United States Attorney Roger B . Handberg announces that Tadd Andrew Melton ( 33 , Jacksonville ) today pleaded guilty to attempted production of child sex abuse images . Melton faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 15 years , and up to 30 years , in federal prison and a potential lifetime term of supervised release . Melton was arrested on July 23 , 2021 , and has been detained since his arrest . According to the plea agreement , on February 2 , 2021 , a federal agent working in an undercover capacity entered a chat group in an online social media app that featured users with a sexual interest in children . While using a particular chat application , the federal agent assumed the persona of the mother of a 9 - year - old female child . Melton contacted the undercover agent and expressed interest in receiving underwear from the “child , ” molesting the “child , ” and receiving child sex abuse images of the “child . ” Melton detailed what type of child sex abuse images he wanted of the “child . ” In addition , he also distributed a child sex abuse image to the undercover agent . Law enforcement was able to identify Melton as the user of the account chatting with the undercover agent based on his account information and investigation into his background . This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation . It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ashley Washington . The forfeiture of assets is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Mai Tran . 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 .
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