Previously convicted child sex offender busted again accessing child sexual abuse materials on the web

On July 9, United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announced that 36-year-old Sean-Michael Smith of Jacksonville had pleaded guilty to using the Internet to access child sexual abuse materials. Smith faces a minimum penalty of 10 years, up to 20 years, in federal prison and a potential life term of supervised release. Smith was already a registered child sex offender who was convicted in federal court in 2014 of distributing videos and photos of children being sexually abused.

In  his latest crimes against children infraction, Smith was arrested on December 18, 2024, and remains in federal custody pending his sentencing hearing scheduled for September 29, 2025.

Background:  After serving his federal prison sentence and while on supervised release, Smith admitted to his probation officer that he had drawn sketches depicting nude children and had also accessed the internet several times. On December 10, 2024, U.S. Probation Officers conducted a search of Smith’s residence for contraband evidence. During an interview, Smith admitted that he had accessed child sexual abuse materials online during August, September, and December 2024. He advised that he used a particular device to access these materials. Probation Officers seized this device and turned it over to the FBI for further investigation.

On February 18, 2025, an FBI agent extracted the contents of the device’s computer chip and found approximately 35 photos depicting young children being sexually abused. 

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This is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

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(Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Florida)
(Sean-Michael Smith booking photo: FDLE)

Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today
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