Cruise Ship Passengers Arrested for Child Sexual Exploitation Offenses

Jacksonville - Christopher Michael Lawhon (36, South Carolina) has been charged by federal indictment with production and attempted production of child sex abuse material (CSAM). In a separate indictment, Tajareia Lawon Aikee Blackwell (25, North Carolina) was charged with transportation of CSAM. If convicted, Lawhon faces a minimum penalty of 15 years, up to 30 years, in federal prison. Blackwell faces a minimum penalty of 5 years, up to 20 years, in federal prison. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement.

According to court documents, Lawhon and Blackwell were passengers on cruises through international waters that subsequently returned to the United States via the Jacksonville cruise port.

Lawhon returned from his cruise on May 7, 2026, in possession of a cellphone. A border search of the phone revealed that Lawhon had stored multiple surreptitiously-recorded video files, at least one of which included a recording of a minor male child in a bathroom stall while the child was using the bathroom. Lawhon advised federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) that he had an interest in voyeurism and typically recorded other people in the bathroom.

Blackwell returned from his cruise on June 8, 2026. At that time, Blackwell had pending charges in North Carolina for indecent liberties with children and statutory rape from February 2026. Blackwell and his cellphone were border searched, which revealed that Blackwell had received CSAM from the same child victim on February 22, 2026, which he had then transported with him through the Middle District of Florida and international waters on the cruise. The victim was 14 years old.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

These cases were investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Statesville (North Carolina) Police Department. They will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Laura Cofer Taylor.

These cases were brought as 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 United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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.