MIAMI – On Nov. 28, a Lake Placid man entered a guilty plea in federal court to production of visual depictions involving sexual exploitation of minors.
Frederick Anderson Bowen, 76, of Lake Placid, Florida, recorded himself performing oral sex on a child. Highlands County Sheriff’s Office deputies located the video saved on Bowen’s cellphone.
Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 27, 2024, before U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon. Bowen faces up to 30 years in federal prison, and up to lifetime supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida; Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of FBI, Miami Field Office, and Sheriff Paul Blackman of Highlands County Sheriff’s Office, announced the guilty plea.
FBI Miami, Fort Pierce Resident Agency and Highlands County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Hudock is prosecuting it.
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.
To report an incident involving the possession, distribution, receipt, or production of child pornography, you can file a report on the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC)’s website at www.cybertipline.com, call 1-800-843-5678, or contact the FBI directly at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324).
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 23-cr-14028.
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