Alabama man sentenced to 140 years on multiple child pornography charges

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — An Alabama man was sentenced to 140 years in federal prison Tuesday on multiple charges of producing, possessing and distributing child pornography, some of which he created by placing hidden cameras in the bathrooms of three Huntsville-area businesses. The sentencing follows an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Alabama State Bureau of Investigations.

Jeremy Joseph Nelson, 42, of Madison County, previously pleaded guilty in February to producing child pornography between 2012 and 2014, possessing child pornography depicting children under the age of 12, and distributing child pornography.

According to court documents, HSI investigators determined Nelson possessed more than a million images of child pornography and that he traded thousands of those images online with other sex offenders. Nelson admitted in his guilty plea that he exploited hundreds of children in Alabama via hidden cameras placed in bathrooms for his own sexual gratification as well as to obtain child pornography he could then trade with others.

In Nelson's guilty plea, he acknowledged that for several years he used hidden cameras surreptitiously to record underage girls in the bathroom of his residence. He also acknowledged that, while working as a janitor, he had hidden cameras in the employee bathroom of a Huntsville television station, in the customer bathroom of a Cadillac dealership, and in the bathroom and changing rooms of a dance studio.

U.S. District Judge Madeline H. Haikala sentenced Nelson on four counts of using or causing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct so he could record the conduct. One of those counts stated that the crime took place at a Huntsville dance studio. Nelson also pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography, and to distributing the pornography over the Internet.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jacquelyn Hutzell and Daniel Fortune prosecuted the case on behalf of U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama Joyce White Vance.

This investigation was conducted under HSI's Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 12,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2014, more than 2,000 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI's Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.

HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.