Jacksonville man sentenced to years in prison for sending child porn on social media app

A Jacksonville man has been sentenced to eight years and nine months in federal prison for distributing child sex abuse images using the social media app called Kik.

33-year-old Earl Frederic Owens was arrested in Nov. 2019 and pleaded guilty in November 2020 after investigators with the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Cyber Crimes Center received a report from Kik that users on the app were uploading child porn images. Within the investigation they found that the images were being distributed from an apartment in Jacksonville, tracking them to Owens.

HSI searched Owens’ apartment on Nov. 19, 2019, and found at least 2,149 images and 23 videos depicting child porn.

While HSI was interviewing Owens, he admitted that he used the app to talk with strangers about his “urges”, interest in pedophilia and trading child porn images with other people on the app.

The investigation also revealed that Owens offered to pay an individual for nude pictures of an underage girl.

“The exploitation of innocent children has no place in our communities, and we will vigorously pursue prosecution of anyone involved in the production, distribution or possession of child pornography to the fullest extent of the law,” said HSI Jacksonville Assistant Special Agent in Charge K. Jim Phillips. “This case highlights how important the law enforcement partnerships between HSI Jacksonville, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office and the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office are in order to protect our children.”

The Clay County Sheriff’s Office and the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office also investigated this case.

Cox Media Group