Gulfport Teen Pleads Guilty to Child Porn Access

A 19-year-old Gulfport man has pleaded guilty to accessing child pornography, admitting he viewed and possessed explicit images of minors on his cellphone. Michael Alex Miller entered his plea before U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden, facing federal charges tied to the possession and intentional viewing of child sexual abuse material.

Federal prosecutors, led by U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Freeze, revealed that in February 2019, the FBI traced a string of illicit activity to a Gulfport residence linked to a specific IP address. That address led agents directly to Miller, who answered the door and agreed to speak with investigators without legal counsel present.

During the non-custodial interview on February 8, 2019, Miller admitted to browsing child pornography on his Samsung S5 cellphone. He confessed to accessing multiple images depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. No physical arrest was made at the time, but the investigation shifted to digital forensics.

A forensic examination of Miller’s devices confirmed his admissions—multiple files containing child sexual abuse material were recovered. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children later verified that several images involved identifiable minor victims, strengthening the federal case against him.

Miller now awaits sentencing scheduled for Friday, July 26, 2019, at 9:30 a.m. in Gulfport federal court. He faces mandatory registration as a sex offender and potential prison time under federal guidelines for crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children.

The case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Jones and falls under Project Safe Childhood, a DOJ initiative launched in 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation. The program unites federal, state, and local agencies to track down offenders who use the internet to exploit minors—like Michael Alex Miller—and to rescue victims hidden in the digital shadows.

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