Miami, Florida – Today, U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith handed down a 40-year federal prison sentence for Breshawn Hamilton, a 21-year-old Fort Lauderdale man who produced and possessed sexual abuse material of children, coerced minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct, and engaged in sextortion.
From October 2019 through November 2020, defendant Breshawn Hamilton used social networking platforms to meet and communicate with at least seven minor females between the ages of 11 and 15. During chats, Hamilton misrepresented his age, often pretending to be younger than he actually was in order to gain the minors’ trust. He would convince the minors to send him sexually explicit images and videos of themselves. After obtaining the images and videos in question, Hamilton threatened to disseminate them unless the minors agreed to meet him for sexual intercourse or continue to provide him with additional videos and images. Even after the victims complied, Hamilton nevertheless disseminated the videos and images. Law enforcement confirmed that Hamilton met with some of the minor victims who resided in the Fort Lauderdale area in person and raped them, often in their own homes. At times, Hamilton recorded himself having sex with the minors and sold those videos to others.
On August 17, 2021, Hamilton pled guilty to two counts of coercing a minor, four counts of production of child pornography, three counts of sending interstate extortionate threats, and one count of possession of child pornography.
U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez of the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury of the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), announced the sentence.
“Those who exploit children are the worst of criminals and today’s sentence reflects that,” said U.S. Attorney Gonzalez. “Our Office is committed to protecting our precious children. We will use every available federal resource to investigate and prosecute these abhorrent crimes.”
“Today’s 40-year sentence sends a clear message to those looking to exploit and victimize our children. We will spare no resource to find you and ensure your prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” said HSI Miami SAC Salisbury. “HSI and its partner law enforcement agencies are committed to protecting the most vulnerable members of our society and will always be there to protect these innocent victims and put these predators behind bars.”
Anyone with additional information about this crime or potential victims is asked to call 866-347-2423.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Fort Lauderdale investigated the case with assistance from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Broward Sheriff’s Office Special Victims Unit, and the South Florida Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.
Assistant United States Attorney Ajay Alexander prosecuted this case.
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 the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 21-cr-60144.
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