TALLAHASSEE, FL – LAWFUEL – The Legal Newswire – Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that
a Duval County man has pleaded guilty to attempted lewd and lascivious
molestation of a child under 12 and promoting the sexual performance of a
child, both second-degree felonies. James Walker McSpadden was arrested in January after a tip from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) led
investigators with the Attorney General’s Child Predator CyberCrime Unit to discover McSpadden’s production of pornographic images of a nine-year old child. McSpadden was sentenced to 20 years in prison to be followed by 10 years of sex offender probation which includes electronic monitoring.
“Some people have an ill-conceived perception that child pornography
is a ‘victimless’ crime and this case clearly illustrates that is not
true,” said Attorney General McCollum. “Child pornography memorializes
real, dangerous and devastating abuse of a child.”
The investigation was initiated when the Naval Criminal Investigative
Services examined a computer previously owned by a rental company. Hundreds
of images of child pornography were found in the memory of the computer,
many of them appearing to be recently-made images of a young girl. The
rental company’s records identified McSpadden as the previous renter.
During the course of their investigation, authorities determined that the
girl in the images was a nine-year old child sometimes left in McSpadden’s
care.
McSpadden was already in custody at the Duval County Jail on
unrelated charges when he was charged with promoting sexual performance by
child and lewd or lascivious molestation. The child, whose identity is
protected, has since received services from the Attorney General’s Victim
Advocates. The case was jointly prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office
and the State Attorney’s Office for the 4th Judicial Circuit. As part of
his sentence, McSpadden must register with the state as a sexual predator.
“We must work to change the notion that child pornography possession
and distribution is harmless or that these victims are not dramatically
impacted for the rest of their lives,” said Attorney General McCollum.
“When the home is no longer safe and children are sexually abused by
individuals who go on to document the abuse through pornography, the worst
scenario of child violence not only comes to life, but will live forever in
the form of these images.”
The Child Predator CyberCrime Unit’s mission is to protect children
from computer-facilitated sexual exploitation. The unit does this by
working cooperatively on a statewide basis with law enforcement agencies
and prosecutors to provide resources and expertise while preventing the
spread of these crimes through education and community awareness. The Child
Predator CyberCrime Unit is a member of the Internet Crimes Against
Children Task Force (ICAC) of North Florida and the Jacksonville FBI Office
CyberTask Force.
McSpadden’s mug shot is attached below.
(See attached file: McSpadden, James.jpg)
