Jacksonville, Florida – United States District Judge Brian J. Davis has sentenced Charles LeLande Boston (32, Orange Park) to six years in federal prison for receiving child sex abuse images. Boston was also ordered to serve a five-year term of supervised release and register as a sex offender. In addition, Boston was ordered to pay $23,000 in restitution to the victims of his offense. He was arrested on August 12, 2021, and ordered detained pending the outcome of this case. He had pleaded guilty on July 28, 2022.
According to court documents, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) conducted an online investigation on a file-sharing network for files containing materials depicting the sexual abuse of children. In January, March, and April 2021, a CCSO detective connected with a computer that had files depicting the sexual abuse of children available for sharing over the internet. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and CCSO later executed a search warrant at the residence connected to that computer and Boston was determined to be the owner of the computer. An examination of Boston’s computer revealed a folder of downloaded files from the internet containing approximately 80 files depicting the sexual abuse of children.
“Sexual predators who victimize children have no place in our society or in our communities,” said Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Jacksonville Assistant Special Agent in Charge K. Jim Phillips. “Thanks to our outstanding partnership with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, we were able to stop another pedophile from targeting our children.”
This case was investigated by the Clay County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ashley Washington.
It 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.