According to a media release dated Thursday, June 29, Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Corrigan of the Middle District of Florida has sentenced George Thomas Griffiths Jr., 43, of Ponte Vedra Beach to six years and three months in federal prison for distributing videos and images depicting children being sexually abused. Griffiths was also ordered to serve a 15-year term of supervised release, forfeit his smartphone and register as a sex offender.
Griffiths pleaded guilty on May 27, 2022.
According to court documents, an FBI task force officer began an undercover investigation using a particular social media application to identify individuals attempting to sexually exploit children using the internet. Between Feb. 3 and 20, 2020, an app user subsequently identified as Griffiths uploaded videos depicting children being abused to a chat room on the app.
Further investigation revealed that Griffiths had distributed these videos over the internet from his home and from his place of employment.
This case was investigated by the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney D. Rodney Brown.
The 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.
For further information about Project Safe Childhood, go to justice.gov/psc.
