MIAMI BEACH, FL – Justin Shawn Smith, 35, formerly of Miami Beach, will spend the next 19 years in federal prison following his sentencing yesterday for the production of child pornography. U.S. District Court Judge Marcia G. Cooke handed down the 225-month sentence, followed by a staggering 25 years of supervised release, effectively locking up a predator who preyed on vulnerable children online.
The case, brought forth by Acting United States Attorney Benjamin G. Greenberg and ICE-HSI Special Agent in Charge Mark Selby, unraveled after an international tip-off. INTERPOL London flagged a report from an 11-year-old girl in London who had been coerced into performing sexually provocative acts online by a 13-year-old boy using the alias “Cody Mathews” on Skype. The victim identified meeting “Cody” on the website kidschat.net. A swift investigation by ICE-HSI revealed Smith as the man behind the fabricated online persona.
Smith didn’t stop at one victim. Investigators discovered an extensive history of online manipulation. Forensic analysis of Smith’s computer showed he engaged in hundreds of chats with minor females across the country, adopting numerous aliases to groom and exploit them. Approximately 31 potential victims were identified, with 19 interviewed—ranging in age from 7 to 14 at the time of the interactions. Smith’s methods were chillingly consistent: convincing girls to undress and engage in sexual acts, often threatening to expose nude photos or reveal their behavior to parents if they refused.
This predatory behavior, known as sextortion, is a growing epidemic ICE-HSI is aggressively combating. The agency’s relentless pursuit of online predators like Smith aims to dismantle these operations and protect children from exploitation. The investigation revealed Smith pretended to be a 13-year-old while using various usernames on kidschat.net, a deliberate tactic to gain trust and manipulate his victims. The scale of his operation, with dozens of potential victims identified, paints a grim picture of calculated abuse.
The prosecution, led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elina A. Rubin-Smith and Ben Widlanski, successfully argued for a substantial sentence, recognizing the severity of Smith’s crimes and the lasting trauma inflicted upon his victims. The case was part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 to combat child exploitation. The project pools federal, state, and local resources to identify, apprehend, and prosecute offenders and rescue victims.
“This sentencing sends a clear message: those who exploit children online will be held accountable,” stated a source close to the investigation. Court documents and further information can be found on the District Court for the Southern District of Florida website at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or through PACER at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and INTERPOL were also commended for their contributions to the investigation.
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Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Sex Crimes|Cybercrime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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