Cyber Safety
Learn about the risks of and tactics used by online predators as well as what constitutes a cyber crime and how to report it
Learn how to identify potential threats that could endanger your child as well as important tips and safety measures
Information about protecting yourself while surfing the internet, safeguarding personal information and avoiding potentially dangerous situations
Learn how to protect yourself online while playing games, surfing the internet and having fun
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| address: |
Attorney General of Florida The Capitol, PL-01 Tallahassee, FL 32399 |
| phone: | (850) 414-3300 |
| website: | www.myfloridalegal.com |
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| news: | Weekly Newsletter |
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Press Releases
Attorney General Bill McCollum Press Release
Printer FriendlyPolk County Man Gets 15 Years for Possession of Child Pornography
TALLAHASSEE, FL - Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that a Polk County man was sentenced to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to multiple charges of possession of child pornography. Joseph Bass was arrested in June 2006 after CyberCrime investigators conducting an investigation through the internet located his collection of pornographic videos of children. Bass must also serve five years of sex-offender probation after his prison sentence is completed. As a condition of his plea deal, he will be required to register with the state as a sex offender. The case was prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution.
“This sentence is a declaration from our state that Florida is no place for a child pornographer to perpetuate these dreadful crimes,” said Attorney General Bill McCollum. “Clearly we are serious about putting these individuals behind bars.”
An undercover investigator with the Attorney General’s CyberCrime Unit discovered that Bass had pornographic images of children on his computers. The investigator was able to trace the images back to Bass’s previous Lee County residence. Investigators then tracked Bass to his new Polk county residence and obtained a full confession regarding the child pornography images, many of which portrayed sexual activity with victims as young as infants and toddlers.
Bass was originally charged with 10 counts of possession of child pornography, a third-degree felony. Conditions of his sex offender probation will include the following provisions:
- A mandatory curfew;
- Prohibitions on living within a certain proximity to places where children regularly congregate;
- Active participation in and successful completion of a sex offender treatment program;
- No contact with any alleged victim;
- No contact with any child under the age of 18 without prior approval;
- Prohibitions on working or volunteering at places where children regularly congregate;
- Prohibitions relating to the possession or viewing of any obscene or pornographic material;
- No access to the internet until the successful completion of a treatment program;
- Submission of a DNA specimen;
- Submission to warrantless searches by the probation officer;
- Participation in annual polygraph examinations;
- Maintenance of a driving log and related prohibitions;
- Prohibition against obtaining or using a post office box without prior approval, and
- Submission to mandatory electronic monitoring.
Bass was sentenced by Judge Dick Prince of the 10th Judicial Circuit. Authorities with the FBI Innocent Images Task Force, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office assisted with the investigation and arrest.