Cocoa Man Sentenced To 50 Years In Federal Prison For Using An 11-Year-Old Child To Produce Sex Abuse Videos

Dawson had pleaded guilty to the distribution counts on November 17, 2020.  He was subsequently found guilty of the production offenses on December 8, 2020, following a bench trial.

According to court documents, on five different occasions in March 2020 and May 2020, Dawson produced videos of himself using an 11-year-old child to engage in sexually explicit conduct. He then distributed these videos to others in internet chat rooms where persons with a sexual interest in children are known to gather.  Dawson also shared images depicting the sexual abuse of numerous young children through an online messaging application in order to obtain similar images in return.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (Orlando and Jacksonville), the Metropolitan Police Department (Washington D.C.), and the Cocoa Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Emily C. L. Chang.

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.