This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Florida, Middle), published as received.
Tampa, FL – Joel Reynolds (48, Seffner) has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber to 24 years in federal prison for production, distribution, and possession of child sexual abuse material. The court ordered the sentence to run consecutive to Reynolds’s 25-year state prison sentence. Reynolds pleaded to the federal offenses on July 9, 2026. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement.
According to court documents, law enforcement initiated an investigation into Reynolds after receiving a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in November 2024. Further investigation revealed Reynolds had produced child sexual abuse material and distributed at least one such image on a social media application. Law enforcement discovered Reynolds in possession of hundreds of videos depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct on his devices.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Courtney Derry.
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. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
