TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that a Hillsborough County man has been sentenced to five years in prison for possessing and promoting child pornography. Jerry Barfield was arrested by the Attorney General’s CyberCrime Unit in February 2007 after investigators determined Barfield possessed multiple images of child pornography and was distributing those images over the internet. The case was prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution.

Investigators with the CyberCrime Unit first discovered Barfield’s distribution of child pornography during a routine undercover internet investigation. Multiple images of child pornography were discovered on Barfield’s computer, which was seized along with another computer and multiple discs to undergo additional forensic analysis. At least one video was of a child believed to be as young as nine years old. Barfield admitted to knowingly possessing the image discovered during the online investigation.

Barfield pleaded guilty in May 2008 to the charges of promoting the sexual performance of a child and possessing child pornography. Judge J. Rodgers Padgett of the Hillsborough County Circuit Court sentenced Barfield to five years in prison. In addition to registering as a sexual offender, Barfield must also reimburse the state for the cost of prosecution and investigation. The United States Secret Service, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the Plant City Police Department assisted with the investigation and the arrest.