PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — A 33-year-old Port St. Lucie man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison, followed by 15 years of supervised release, in the distribution and receipt of child sexual abuse material, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday.
Anthony James Howe was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Court Judge Jose E. Martinez in Miami after pleading guilty in March.
In March 2022, Homeland Security Investigation agents learned that an individual, later identified as Howe, had been using social media applications and chatrooms to trade materials with other users. Some images and videos traded by Howe depicted sexual abuse activities of children as young as toddlers, prosecutors said.
Agents also learned that Howe claimed he had installed a hidden camera in a minor child’s bedroom.
HSI agents conducted a search warrant at his home, where he admitted to using social media platforms to send and receive the material.
This case was 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.
