JACKSONVILLE – Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Corrigan sentenced Sam David Harris Jr., 38, of Middleburg, to 25 years in federal prison for the production of child sexual abuse images, followed by a lifetime of supervised release. The court also ordered Harris to pay $65,500 in restitution to the victims of his offenses. Harris pleaded guilty on Sept. 21. 

According to court documents, in February 2023, Homeland Security Investigations began an investigation into a Cyber Tip received by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about child sexual abuse materials being uploaded to a particular site of an electronic services provider. This investigation led law enforcement to Harris and his residence.

On April 20, HSI Jacksonville special agents and task force officers executed a search warrant at Harris’s residence. During the search, a thumb drive was discovered concealed in the bottom of a small box in the top drawer of a bedside nightstand. Also found in the top drawer was a prescription medicine container bearing Harris’s name. An onsite forensic preview of the thumb drive led to the discovery of numerous videos and images depicting child sexual abuse material. Additional analysis of the thumb drive revealed more than 100 images that appeared to have been produced by Harris. His hand, arm and forearm were visible in several of the files. One of the girls in the images was subsequently identified as a child to whom Harris had access.

The Northeast Florida INTECEPT Task Force investigated the case, including the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations Jacksonville, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office and the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Washington and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Karase prosecuted it.

The case was 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 U.S. 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.