LAKE CITY, Fla. — William Ervin Daniels has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison by for distributing child sex abuse material, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The 45-year-old Lake City man pleaded guilty to the charges in September of 2024 after a joint investigation by the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
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Action News Jax told you when William Daniels was first arrested on the charge.
According to court documents, on November 16th, 2023, Daniels distributed two videos of child sex abuse in an online group chat called “Da Litl Kidz Gc”. Daniels was listed as an administrator for the group.
His phone also contained a cache of thousands of similar videos and pictures.
Although he was not convicted of any physical abuse, the government presented evidence during the sentencing hearing that Daniels had abused a child in his care at least twice.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says the case was brought against Daniels as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice in 2006. Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, arrest, and prosecute people who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.
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