On Monday, April 16, in a case initiated by Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, a federal jury has found Jason James Neiheisel 28 of Jacksonville guilty of sharing child sex abuse videos and making them available for online distribution.
The investigation began in April of 2017 when a CCSO Detective assigned to the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force discovered illicit videos and alerted the Task Force. The Detective identified the host computer that was offering child pornography for distribution using a file-sharing network and uncovered evidence of numerous illegal videos, several of which depicted young children being sexually abused. The host computer was traced to Neiheisel’s home.
On April 11, 2017, Task Force agents served a search warrant on Neiheisel’s Jacksonville apartment securing evidence and a confession. May 4, 2017, Neiheisel was arrested on the charges he was later found guilty of and he now faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 5 years, and up to 40 years, in federal prison and a potential life term of supervised release.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.
The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office currently has detectives that are assigned to Task Forces that partner with the FBI, DEA, ATF, U.S. Marshals Service, and the U.S. Secret Service.
“I’m proud of the tremendous steps our Sheriff’s Office has taken to keep our community safe. Sheriff Mark Hunter said, “Partnering with federal, state and other local agencies allows us to multiply our force and resources; doing more with less.”
