Fla. man sentenced to 5 years for receiving child pornography online

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville man was sentenced to five years in federal prison Tuesday for receiving child pornography over the Internet. The sentence resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

In addition to the prison sentence, Dwaine Charles Idleman, 66, must serve five years of supervised release and register as a sex offender.

According to court documents, an HSI special agent began an undercover operation to identify people using the Internet to receive and share child pornography. The special agent identified a host computer using a particular Internet Protocol (IP) address that shared images of child pornography on a file sharing network. Further investigation traced this IP address to Idleman’s Jacksonville residence.

In June 2012, HSI special agents and other law enforcement officers executed a federal search warrant at Idleman’s residence.

During an interview, Idleman stated, among other things, that he had come across pornography sites with people that were "too young, but that he got out of it."

When the special agents told him they knew he was downloading and sharing child pornography, Idleman stated, "I know I got a problem and if this escalates into an arrest, my life is over."

Idleman typed in certain keyword searches and usually downloaded files from the file sharing program when he was alone in his home.

A subsequent forensic analysis of Idleman’s laptop computer revealed at least four images and one video depicting child pornography, along with other files containing titles indicative of child pornography. The analysis also showed several videos were downloaded by Idleman using the file sharing program the same day HSI special agents arrived to execute the search warrant at his residence.

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 10,000 individuals for crimes against children, including producing and distributing online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking children. In fiscal year 2013, 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.