Jacksonville Human Trafficking Customer Sentenced To 15 Years In Federal Prison For Using Underage “Models” To Produce Child Pornography

Jacksonville, Florida – U.S. District Judge Brian J. Davis has sentenced Thomas Leslie Carr (50, Jacksonville) to 15 years in federal prison for using underage “models” to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing pornographic images and videos.  A federal jury found him guilty on June 1, 2017. 

According to court documents, in 2012, law enforcement officers began a human trafficking investigation involving the prostitution of minor and adult females throughout Florida by an individual named Michael Gallon.  The investigation revealed that Gallon had recruited his victims to travel and work at “parties” and “VIP rooms” as “models,” where customers paid to have sex with them. During the investigation, agents identified Carr was one of Gallon’s regular customers. 

On October 28, 2013, Gallon was arrested and charged with sex trafficking of minors and distribution of child pornography.  Two weeks later, a federal search warrant was executed at Carr’s residence. During an interview, Carr admitted that he had hired about 15 girls from Gallon over a three-year period. He stated that Gallon called him when he had girls available in Jacksonville and that the two would meet so that Carr could pay Gallon to select girls to take back to his residence. At home, Carr paid the females for photo sessions that usually consisted of photographing the female stripping off her clothing and then posing nude. He stated he attempted to have sex with the women and, if they were reluctant, Carr offered them more money.      

During the search of Carr’s residence, agents recovered computer media that contained images and videos of at least two minors, ages 15 and 17, engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Carr admitted to doing “photo shoots” with each of these minors.  The videos depicted Carr engaging in sexual intercourse with one of the girls.

In 2014, Gallon pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 33 years and 9 months in federal prison.

This case was investigated by the Lakeland Police Department, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations in Tampa and Jacksonville.  It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys D. Rodney Brown, Beatriz Gonzalez, and Stacie Harris.

It is another case brought as 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 the 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.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.