Jacksonville, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Michael Paul Gillis (64, Jacksonville) has been arrested and charged by criminal complaint with possessing a computer disk drive containing videos depicting the sexual abuse of children. If convicted, Gillis faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a potential lifetime term of supervised release. Gillis was arrested at his home by FBI agents on February 2, 2022.
According to court documents and information provided in open court, FBI agents executed a search warrant at Gillis’s residence on February 2, 2022, and seized a computer hard disk drive that was inside a desktop computer belonging to Gillis. A forensic review of this disk drive revealed that it contained videos depicting prepubescent children being sexually abused.
A criminal complaint is merely an allegation that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown.
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.
Making sure that victims of federal crimes are treated with compassion, fairness and respect.