Tallahassee Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Attempted Receipt of Child Pornography

Tallahassee, Florida - Vertis McNeil Robinson, 48, of Tallahassee, Florida, was sentenced to five years in federal prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, for his conviction of attempted receipt of child pornography. The sentence was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

U.S. Attorney Heekin said: "Sexual predators have more ways than ever before to prey upon children online, but our excellent state and federal law enforcement partners are relentlessly pursuing those sick individuals to keep our kids safe. My office will continue to aggressively prosecute anyone who seeks to sexually exploit and victimize children through the internet and social media platforms."

Court documents reflect that Robinson was arrested as part of a joint law enforcement agency operation in the Tallahassee area to locate individuals using the internet to locate and sexually exploit minors. Robinson made contact with an individual he believed was a minor and engaged in discussions to meet the minor to engage in sexual acts in exchange for cash. Robinson asked the minor to send a sexually explicit image during the discussions.

After serving his term of imprisonment, Robinson will have to register as a sexual offender.

The case involved a joint investigation by Homeland Security Investigations and the Tallahassee Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Meredith L. Steer.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice and led by the U.S. Attorney's Offices and the Criminal Divisions Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), it marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.projectsafechildhood.govLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link..

The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation's principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of FloridaLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. website. For more information about the United States Attorney's Office, Northern District of Florida, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl.