JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 43-year-old Jacksonville man was sentenced this week to 64 years in federal prison for attempting to entice children to produce images and video of child sexual abuse and possession of such materials, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Colum Patrick Moran Jr. was arrested in 2019 after an FBI raid of his home and he was convicted on March 10 after a three-day trial.
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In addition to prison, Moran will remain on supervised release for life and must register as a sex offender.
According to the criminal complaint, from on or about Dec. 28, 2016, through Oct. 31, 2018, Moran, using the name “Emily lover” and the email address emilylover@aol.com, made numerous postings to several internet blog websites hosted by mothers.
These blog sites were designed and intended to share and exchange information about motherhood, raising children and other related topics.
Moran repeatedly posted sexually explicit comments about young children on these motherhood blogs and also solicited others to produce and post sexually explicit photos and videos of children on the blog sites, authorities said.
“This case demonstrates the lengths that predators will go to target innocent children online, and reveals the havoc placed on their families,” said Rachel L. Rojas, special agent in charge of the FBI Jacksonville Division. “While the FBI, in general, does not comment on specific websites or apps, we want parents to be aware of the risks and vulnerabilities posed by websites and apps that offer interactive communication capabilities to include video live-streaming and image sharing functionalities.”
On March 6, 2019, FBI agents and other officers executed a search warrant at Moran’s apartment where he lived alone. The agents found a plastic storage bin containing at least 50 pairs of female child-sized underwear, a smartphone containing more than 300 images depicting child pornography, a number of credit cards and Florida driver licenses that did not belong to Moran, several firearms and a bulletproof vest, the complaint said. Moran was arrested.
Moran had been in trouble with the law in the past. Court records show that back in 2005, he was arrested in Massachusetts for illegally possessing dangerous weapons and in 2015, he was arrested in Clay County for not paying outstanding traffic fines.