Dustin Schaud Fox, Child Pornography Production and Possession, Tennessee 2024

Knoxville Man Sentenced to 324 Months in Prison for Child Pornography Production and Possession

Dustin Schaud Fox, a 29-year-old Knoxville man, has been sentenced to 324 months in federal prison for coercing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing child pornography and for possessing child pornography.

According to court documents, Fox established an online relationship with the 14-year-old girl in Texas and directed her to record videos of herself engaged in sexually explicit conduct and send them to him through social media. The investigation was led by the Knoxville Police Department's Internet Crimes Against Children unit.

Following his imprisonment, Fox will be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for 20 years and will be required to register with the state sex offender registry in any state in which he lives, works, or attends school. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Federal Government.

U.S. Attorney J. Douglas Overbey praised the efforts of law enforcement agencies in protecting children from online predators. He encouraged parents to be vigilant concerning the online activities of their children, stating, 'These child predators secretly operate from the shadows of the internet, seek out vulnerable minors, pretend to befriend them, and then prey upon the minors' vulnerability, unbeknownst to the parents.'

The case was investigated locally by the Knoxville Police Department's Internet Crimes Against Children unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew T. Morris represented the United States at trial. Dustin Schaud Fox's crimes include coercing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing child pornography and possessing child pornography.

The defendant, Dustin Schaud Fox, was sentenced by the Honorable Pamela L. Reeves, Chief U.S. District Judge, in the Eastern District of Tennessee. This case is a reminder of the ongoing efforts to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Dustin Schaud Fox's exact criminal charges include coercing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing child pornography and possessing child pornography. The investigation arose after the mother of the 14-year-old girl in Texas informed a local law enforcement agency that an adult male, later identified as Fox, had established an online relationship with her daughter.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edtn/pr/knoxville-man-sentenced-324-months-prison-production-and-possession-child-pornography