Jacksonville man sentenced for production, distribution of child sexual abuse materials

Arin Caleb Ellis, of Jacksonville, was sentenced to 35 years in federal prison for producing and distributing videos depicting children being sexually abused.

According to a news release, court documents show that from Jan. 2018 through Aug. 29, 2022, Ellis was an active member of several online groups on social media apps. The groups were dedicated to the sexual exploitation of children and the sharing of child sexual abuse materials.

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Along with other group members, Ellis located and sexually exploited minors.

According to the release, Ellis and others would pose as minors to persuade and coerce children to engage in sexually explicit conduct and live-stream it. The adults would then secretly record the live-streams.

Ellis and the other group members also collaborated to hack into baby monitors, "nanny" cameras, and other internet-enabled cameras within private residences. Ellis produced his own code to do so.

The FBI recovered at least 1,700 photos and 700 videos of child sexual abuse materials on Elllis' devices.

Ellis was arrested on Aug. 29, 2022, and has been in federal custody since then. He pleaded guilty to persuading and coercing a child to engage in producing visual depictions of sexually explicit conduct and to distributing a video depicting a child being sexually abused on Feb. 28.

He will serve a lifetime term of supervised release and register as a sex offender.