Federal Jury Convicts Lady Lake Man Of Possessing Child Pornography

 Ocala, Florida – A federal jury has found Terry George Zimmerman (73, Lady Lake) guilty of possession of child pornography. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 23, 2021.

Zimmerman was originally indicted on December 11, 2019. A superseding indictment followed on February 26, 2020.

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, the Lady Lake Police Department executed a search warrant at Zimmerman’s residence and seized several electronic devices containing materials involving the sexual exploitation of young children. Agents from Homeland Security Investigations recovered more than 2,395 images and 309 video files depicting children who were being sexually assaulted and exploited from two computers and twelve USB drives that Zimmerman had kept in his living room and bedroom. 

Zimmerman had previously been convicted of this same child sexual exploitation offense on June 19, 1995, in New York. As a result, he faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years for this latest conviction.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Lady Lake Police Department, and the Ocala Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Michael P. Felicetta and Tyrie K. Boyer.

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.