A convicted sex offender in Florida has been sentenced to 12 years and seven months in federal prison, to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release, for possession of child sex abuse images after previously being convicted of possessing, receiving, and distributing child sex abuse images.
The court also ordered Steven Lee Carty, 55, Live Oak, to pay $19,000 in restitution to the victims of his offense. Carty entered a guilty plea on October 19, 2023.
According to court documents, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) began investigating Carty in relation to a CyberTip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that had been provided by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE).
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The CyberTip indicated that child exploitation material had been uploaded to an account with an electronic service provider. Law enforcement reviewed the material and determined it contained child sex abuse material (CSAM).
Account information was provided for the user, who was connected to Carty. The Internet Protocol (IP) history for the account that had uploaded the material was traced to Carty. FDLE obtained a state search warrant for that account, which was determined to contain the file of CSAM from the CyberTip, along with additional files containing CSAM.
HSI learned that additional CyberTips were connected to Carty, which HSI obtained and reviewed. Those CyberTips indicated that accounts associated with Carty had uploaded CSAM, including within a chat conversation with another user for one of the Cybertips.
During their investigation, law enforcement learned that Carty was listed as an offender on FDLE’s Sexual Offenders and Predators registry because of federal convictions for receiving, distributing, and possessing CSAM in 2005.
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On August 24, 2023, HSI and FDLE executed a federal search warrant at Carty’s residence with assistance from the Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office. During an interview with law enforcement, Carty admitted to viewing, obtaining, and sharing CSAM.
He also admitted to being obsessed with CSAM and possessing hundreds of files of it on his cellphone. A preliminary examination of Carty’s cellphone during the execution of the search warrant revealed at least one file containing CSAM.
“Computers and mobile devices provide an instant, all-access pass for predators to distribute life-long records of the darkest moments of a child’s short life,” said Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Tallahassee Assistant Special Agent in Charge Nicholas Ingegno. “The Northeast Florida INTERCEPT Task Force partnership is 1,000 percent committed to be a light in the dark world that chooses to victimize children rather than nurture them.”
This case was investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Northeast Florida INTERCEPT Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney Ashley Washington prosecuted it.
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