Citrus County man sentenced to 30 years for producing child sex abuse images and videos
OCALA, Fla. - A 31-year-old Citrus Spring man was sentenced to 30 year is federal prison for producing child sex abuse material, according to officials.
Dustin Shane Sandiford was sentenced by Senior United States District Judge John Antoon II.
Sandiford pleaded guilty on Sept. 3, 2021. Court documents revealed that Sandiford hoarded more than 17,000 images and videos of child sex abuse.
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Agents seized a cellphone from Sandiford on Dec. 2, 2020. Officials say the phone contained a cloud storage application tied to accounts Sandiford used to collect the material.
Investigators discovered that Sandiford had also enlisted the help of another Citrus County resident to create child sex abuse images of an underaged relatives.
He wanted the person to send the images back to him, according to authorities. Investigators say they found that material on one of Sandiford’s cloud storage accounts.
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Sandiford's case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney William S. Hamilton.
Officials say the case was part of Project Safe Childhood. The nationwide initiative was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, click here.