Jacksonville man sentenced to more than 4 years for child pornography

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Florida man was sentenced Monday to four years and four months in federal prison for possessing child pornography. This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO).

Arnold Bernard Conrad Jr., 52, of Jacksonville, was also ordered to serve a five-year term of supervision following his release, register as sex offender, forfeit his computer media and pay $9,000 in restitution to three victims.

According to court documents, a detective with JSO began an undercover investigation to identify individuals who were trading images and videos depicting child pornography over the Internet. The detective determined that a particular computer in Jacksonville was hosting and trading images of child pornography using a peer-to-peer file sharing program. The subscriber information for the computer was traced back to Conrad’s Jacksonville residence, where a search warrant was subsequently executed and his computer media seized. During an interview with agents, Conrad admitted to having used two different programs to download child pornography from the Internet, saving it to external hard drives, and that he had been doing so for almost two years. A forensic analysis of Conrad’s computer media revealed that it contained 504 images and 145 videos depicting child pornography, including at least one video depicting a nude toddler being sexually assaulted. Conrad pleaded guilty Nov. 12, 2014. 

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 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 2,300 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.

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. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196. 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.