Repeat Sex Offender Who Abused And Produced Sexually Explicit Photos Of A Deaf Child Sentenced To 45 Years In Federal Prison

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday has sentenced Adam Lee Hollis (42, Polk County) to 45 years in federal prison for producing sexually explicit photographs of a seven-year-old child in his custody, and for having committed that offense while being required to register as a sex offender. Hollis was also ordered to serve a 20-year term of supervised release following his incarceration.   

Hollis had pleaded guilty on November 30, 2020.

According to court documents, in January 2013, Hollis advertised, produced, and distributed sexually explicit images of a deaf, seven-year-old child to whom he had access. Hollis also molested that child, in addition to sexually abusing another eight-year-old child. For years, Hollis groomed these children by forcing them to watch pornography with him, threatening their relatives, and threatening that their mother would lose custody of them if they reported his abuse. Hollis advertised, created, and traded these child sex-abuse images using the internet, in part, so that he could add to his personal collection of child exploitation materials, which consisted of more than 250 images and more than 80 videos.

In 2014, Hollis was convicted in Polk County for sexual battery on a child. Hollis was in violation of his sex offender registration requirements when law enforcement officers approached him in 2013. Before the offense conduct, in 2000, Hollis had been convicted of directing/promoting the sexual performance of a child by distributing child-exploitative images using America Online (“AOL”).

“This criminal deviant committed the most horrible atrocities on young, helpless children,” said HSI Tampa Assistant Special Agent in Charge Micah McCombs. “This sentencing ensures this repeat child predator will spend the rest of his natural life in prison.”

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, with assistance from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Frank Murray.

This case was 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.