PANAMA CITY, FLORIDA – United States Attorney Pamela C. Marsh, of the Northern District of Florida, announced that Anthony James Jensen, 35, of Lynn Haven, appeared in United States District Court this afternoon on a federal criminal complaint following his arrest for the receipt of child pornography using a computer.

The affidavit, upon which the federal criminal complaint was issued, alleges the following:

Since 2006, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Homeland Security Investigations (ICE) has been involved in a long-term investigation, entitled “Operation Flicker,” which focuses on persons buying memberships to websites that traffic in child pornography. The investigation determined that Jensen had purchased access to one such website. In January, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) joined the investigation after determining that Jensen was employed by a Department of Defense contractor and was working at the U.S. Naval Support Activity Center in Panama City Beach, Florida. On June 8, 2011, NCIS seized Jensen’s computers, external hard drives, and thumb drives. During a cursory search of one of Jensen’s computers, law enforcement found multiple videos containing child pornography, some over 20 minutes in length. A full forensic analysis will now be conducted to determine the total number of images of child pornography on Jensen’s computer hardware.

Jensen is scheduled for a detention and probable cause hearing on June 16, 2011, at 1:30PM, before United States Magistrate Judge Larry Bodiford.

This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 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 exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

ICE and NCIS have been assisted in the investigation by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gayle E. Littleton.

A federal criminal complaint is merely a preliminary charge. Every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until indicted by a federal grand jury and proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If indicted by a federal grand jury and convicted, Jensen faces from 5-20 years in prison, up to a life term of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.

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