Donald Edwin Gallagher, Jr., Child Pornography, Florida 2014

Tampa, FL – In a shocking turn of events, a former American Airlines pilot has been sentenced to 21 years in federal prison for production, distribution, and possession of child pornography.

Donald Edwin Gallagher, Jr., a 52-year-old resident of St. Petersburg, Florida, was found guilty by a federal jury on March 13, 2014, for his heinous crimes.

According to court documents, an undercover detective with the St. Petersburg Police Department downloaded approximately 15 files depicting child pornography from an Internet protocol address that traced back to Gallagher’s residence in January 2013.

Following a thorough investigation by the FBI and local law enforcement agencies, a federal search warrant was executed at Gallagher’s residence, where agents seized a laptop computer, hard drives, and other digital media containing thousands of images and hundreds of videos depicting child pornography.

During the investigation, law enforcement officials discovered that Gallagher had used two minor victims to produce images and videos of them engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

The case was investigated by the FBI and members of the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, including the Largo Police Department and the St. Petersburg Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Josephine W. Thomas and Stacie B. Harris.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.

Gallagher’s sentence is a stark reminder of the severity of child pornography offenses and the importance of holding perpetrators accountable for their crimes.

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