Former Corrections Officer Pleads Guilty to Child Exploitation and Distributing Child Pornography as a Result of Operation Relentless Justice

Gainesville, Florida - Devin Scott Waldeck, 35, of Cross City, Florida, pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of child exploitation and one count of the distribution of child pornography. The plea was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

U.S. Attorney Heekin said: "The sexual exploitation of a child is a horrific crime, and the distribution of child sexual abuse material is a continuing offense that has the effect of re-victimizing the innocent child each and every time those disturbing images and videos are shared. Our state and federal law enforcement partners are relentlessly pursuing the sexual predators who seek to victimize and sexually exploit children, and my office will continue to aggressively prosecute those sick individuals to ensure they are locked away and unable to harm our kids."

Court documents reflect that, in November 2025, law enforcement became aware the defendant, posing as the mother of a minor child, was using the online Reddit platform to discuss the sexual exploitation of that minor child. In online communications with another Reddit user, the defendant offered the minor child to the Reddit user and graphically described ways the user could sexually exploit the minor. The defendant saved explicit videos and pictures of the minor child in a secret app on his cell phone along with other sexually explicit videos and photos of other named individuals. The defendant had hundreds of communications with other Reddit users discussing sexual "hookups," including more than a dozen conversations where he stated he had sexual encounters or wanted to have sexual encounters with minors.

The defendant faces a mandatory minimum of fifteen years' imprisonment and up to thirty years' imprisonment for the child exploitation count, and a mandatory minimum of five years' imprisonment and up to twenty years' imprisonment for distribution of child pornography. Both counts include up to a lifetime of supervision upon release.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Dixie County Sheriff's Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Christie S. Utt.

Sentencing for is scheduled for August 25, 2026, at 2:00 pm, at the United States Courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida before Chief United States District Judge Allen C. Winsor.

This case was a result of Operation Relentless Justice, a coordinated enforcement effort to identify, track and arrest child sex predators. For more information, please visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/justice-department-announces-results-operation-relentless-justice.

These operations underscore the Department's unwavering commitment to protecting children and combating child sexual exploitation. 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. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood 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 Justice.gov/PSC.

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 for the Northern District of Florida, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl.