Miami, Florida – A 28-year-old Pahokee, Florida man was sentenced yesterday in West Palm Beach federal court to 25 years in prison for enticing poor children in the Philippines to send him pornographic images of themselves in exchange for money and other child exploitation crimes, some of which involved toddlers.
Dennis Pollard used a social media messenger application in 2020 to find young girls in the Philippines whom he could groom for the purpose of producing child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Pollard offered, and sometimes provided, money through wire services in exchange for pornographic images of the girls. Over nearly six-weeks, Pollard convinced a 13-year-old girl, living in poverty, to record herself performing sexual acts in exchange for money. Pollard also directed a woman in the Philippines to record herself sexually abusing her two toddler-aged children. Pollard distributed CSAM of his victims to groom others and obtain more CSAM. In 2015, Pollard attempted to produce CSAM through a different account on the same social media messenger application. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s (PBSO) Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force executed a search warrant at Pollard’s Pahokee residence. Pollard was found to have dozens of child sexual abuse images and videos on his phone, as well as on CDs that he had possessed for nearly a decade.
Juan Antonio Gonzalez, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Anthony Salisbury, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigation (HSI), Miami Field Office, announced the sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Robin L. Rosenberg.
HSI Miami’s West Palm Beach Office investigated the case, with assistance from the PBSO and the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Schiller prosecuted the 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-80107.
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