Earl Richard Clouser, Attempted Production of Child Sexual Abuse Material, Florida 2025

A Pennsylvania man was convicted by a federal jury on February 11 of attempting to produce child sexual abuse material (CSAM) involving a minor victim overseas.

Earl Richard Clouser, 55, of Burnham, Pennsylvania, engaged in months-long online communications with a 15-year-old victim in Cuba, despite knowing her age, and repeatedly solicited sexually explicit videos and directed her to produce CSAM, often in exchange for electronic payments.

"This defendant targeted a 15-year-old child, directed her to create sexually explicit material, and then traveled overseas to exploit her in person," said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. "The fact that the victim lived in another country did not put her beyond the protection of U.S. law. If you use the internet or international travel to exploit a child, we will find you, prosecute you, and seek the full measure of federal punishment."

In September 2025, Clouser traveled from the U.S. to Havana, Cuba, to meet the victim for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity, and arranged for the victim to meet him in Havana, where she stayed overnight with him at his rental apartment.

After returning to the U.S. through Miami International Airport on September 19, 2025, Clouser was referred for secondary inspection by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, where officers discovered CSAM and communications between Clouser and the victim on three electronic devices in his possession, each containing sexually explicit material depicting the victim.

Clouser was arrested and after a two-day trial, the jury convicted him of attempted production of visual depictions involving the sexual exploitation of a minor. He faces up to 30 years in federal prison with a mandatory minimum of 15 years.

A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

Related Federal Cases