Alabama Man Sentenced to 55 Years in Prison for Sexual Exploitation of Children
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Alabama announced that Robert Lee Ford, Jr., 35, of Birmingham, in Jefferson County, Alabama, has been sentenced to 660 months, or 55 years, in federal prison for producing child sexual abuse material. U.S. Attorney Phillip W. Williams Jr. announced the sentence.
Chief U.S. District Judge Madeline H. Haikala imposed the sentence. Ford pleaded guilty after jury selection in a trial to two counts of sexual exploitation.
According to the plea agreement, on January 24, 2025, a deputy with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office was dispatched to Children's of Alabama hospital after receiving a report of an assault on a child. The child's mother reported that her 14-year-old daughter had been assaulted by Ford. Deputies, with assistance from the FBI, executed a state search warrant on Ford's apartment and arrested him on state charges.
The FBI continued investigating and executed federal search warrants on Ford's online accounts. A review of those accounts revealed videos of child sexual abuse material Ford had produced using the minor victim on multiple dates in December 2024 and January 2025.
Williams said child exploitation is a horrific crime and that 55 years in federal prison means the defendant will spend the rest of his life behind bars, unable to victimize another child. David R. Fitzgibbons, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Birmingham Field Office, said the lengthy sentence reflects the seriousness of the crimes.
The FBI Birmingham's Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force investigated the case along with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys R. Leann White and J. Patrick Lamb are prosecuting the case, which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006.
(Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
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