OXFORD, MS – A Tupelo, Mississippi man was sentenced today to 20 years in prison for using an online application to coerce minor females to send him sexually explicit images and videos.

According to court documents, Sean Carson, 24 years old, was getting girls as young as 12 years old to send him sexually explicit images. When the girls would try to cut off contact, Carson would threaten to send out the images and sexual texts to family members if they refused to continue talking to him, sharing personally identifying information, and keep sending sexually explicit images and videos. The FBI has identified 46 of the approximately 100 victims.

Senior Judge Michael P. Mills sentenced Carson to 240 months and a lifetime of supervised release. After his release from prison, Carson will have to register as a sex offender wherever he lives, works, or goes to school. During his supervised release, Carson’s access to electronic devices will be limited.

“Significant sentences like the one handed down to Sean Carson help to ensure that our children are protected from sexual predators who lure children and then attempt to keep them silent,” stated U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner.  “AUSA Parker King and our partners at the FBI did some exceptional work in order to prove a difficult case, and this sentence should act as a deterrent to other would be predators as well.”

"This sentence underscores the FBI's commitment to protect our children from sexual exploitation,” said Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Jackson Field Office Robert Eikhoff. “The message is clear, vile predators like Sean Carson will be held to the highest extent of the law. The FBI maintains a commitment to support the USAO and the Tupelo Police Department in aggressively investigating and protecting the innocence of our minors, assuring offenders are brought to justice."

The FBI investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Parker S. King prosecuted the case.

This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by the U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better 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.