Repeat sex offender of Orlando, U.S. gets more than 15 years in federal prison

#Orlando, #US; #RepeatSexOffender; #ICE; #HSI; #FederalImprisonment


Orlando, Jul 11 (Canadian-Media):  James Edward Groover, II, 34, of Antwerp, Ohio was sentenced on July 10 to 15 years and 8 months in federal prison for transportation of child pornography, media reports said.

The case was investigated by the resident agent in charge for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Cocoa Beach office and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.

The court documents revealed that on June 17, 2019, Groover returned to the United States from a three-day cruise to the Bahamas, carrying his cell phone and laptop computer.

Upon his entry into Port Canaveral, Florida, a border search on his devices was conducted by law enforcement agents and found 4,638 images and 1,763 videos depicting the sexual abuse and exploitation of infants, toddlers and prepubescent children.

A digital manual that provided instructions for sexually molesting little girls was also found by the agents.

“This repeat child predator did not learn his lesson the first time,” said HSI Orlando Assistant Special Agent in Charge David J. Pezzutti. “This sentencing is a message to this criminal and others, that HSI special agents and our law enforcement partners, like the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, continue to fight to protect the most vulnerable in our communities.”

Sheriff Wayne Ivey stated, “I am so very proud of these agents who are devoted to protecting children. Through their outstanding efforts, an individual who participated in the exploitation of our children has been removed from our communities. I want to thank the US Attorney’s Office for prosecuting these cases and Homeland Security Investigations for all their support in fighting the exploitation of children.”

Previously, in 2005, Canadian authorities located images of child sex abuse on a laptop that Groover had transported across the Canadian border. Groover was convicted of possession of child pornography in Canada.

On February 6, 2020, Groover had pleaded guilty. The court also ordered Groover to forfeit the electronic devices he used to commit the offense.

The case was prosecuted by the office of United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez, Middle District Florida, Assistant United States Attorney Karen L. Gable.

HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators had conducted his investigation.

Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, more than 25,000 individuals had been arrested by HSI for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child exploitation material, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children.

Under this initiative, HSI special agents arrested more than 3,500 child predators in fiscal year 2019,  and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.