Florida Man Pleads Guilty to Transportation of Child Pornography

WASHINGTON—A Largo, Florida resident pleaded guilty yesterday in the Middle District of Florida to one count of transportation of child pornography, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida Robert E. O’Neill and Special Agent in Charge Steven E. Ibison of the FBI’s Tampa Field Office.

James Charles Cafferty, 45, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas G. Wilson.

According to court documents and proceedings, Cafferty, who was a special agent for the Department of State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security, purchased memberships in several child pornography websites. A subsequent search warrant executed at Cafferty’s home revealed hard drives containing thousands of child pornography files. Cafferty admitted during an interview that he had shipped these hard drives from London to his home in Largo.

Cafferty faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, as well as the possibility of lifetime supervised release. Cafferty also faces a fine of $250,000.

This case was investigated by the FBI, the Department of State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security, and the Largo Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen Murphy Davis for the Middle District of Florida and Trial Attorney Andrew M. McCormack of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit Projectsafechildhood.gov.