Edgar John Dawson, Jr., Child Sex Abuse, Florida 2020

Edgar John Dawson, Jr. (47, Cocoa), a Florida man, has been sentenced to 50 years in federal prison for his heinous crimes involving an 11-year-old child.

According to court documents, Dawson produced videos of himself using the child to engage in sexually explicit conduct on five different occasions in March 2020 and May 2020. He then distributed these videos to others in internet chat rooms where persons with a sexual interest in children are known to gather.

Dawson also shared images depicting the sexual abuse of numerous young children through an online messaging application in order to obtain similar images in return.

On November 17, 2020, Dawson pleaded guilty to two counts of distributing child sex abuse images over the internet. He was subsequently found guilty of producing the child sex abuse videos on December 8, 2020, following a bench trial.

U.S. District Judge Wendy W. Berger has also ordered Dawson to register as a sex offender and to forfeit his phone. He has been in custody since his arrest on May 7, 2020.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (Orlando and Jacksonville), the Metropolitan Police Department (Washington D.C.), and the Cocoa Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Emily C. L. Chang.

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.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/pr/cocoa-man-sentenced-50-years-federal-prison-using-11-year-old-child-produce-sex-abuse