FBI electronics technician found guilty of child exploitation offenses by Middle TN jury

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – Earlier this week, a Middle Tennessee jury convicted an FBI employee of multiple child exploitation charges after he reportedly engaged in sexually explicit conversations with three teenage girls.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said Justin Carroll was found guilty on Monday, March 4 of sexual exploitation of a minor, coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity, receipt of child pornography, and transfer of obscene material to an individual under the age of 16.

Based on evidence presented at trial, Carroll — who worked for the FBI as an electronics technician — participated in sexually explicit chats and exchanged sexually explicit images with three 14-year-old girls over various social media platforms between June 2020 and April 2021 after connecting with the minors on chatting websites, according to authorities.

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Officials said Carroll’s activities were discovered after one of the victims mailed a Valentine’s Day package to the FBI office.

Not only were sexually explicit images of the girls found on Carroll’s social media accounts and cell phone, but images of Carroll were discovered on one of the minor’s social media accounts and on another minor’s cell phone, the DOJ reported.

However, authorities said Carroll kept communicating with the 14-year-old victim who sent the package, even after he received an email from her mother, asking why her daughter mailed him a package and notifying him of her daughter’s age.

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“It is no longer adequate to keep our children physically separated from strangers,” said U.S. Attorney Henry C. Leventis for the Middle District of Tennessee. “We must be vigilant in monitoring who they communicate with online to ensure their safety and to prevent the type of egregious conduct committed by the defendant in this case. I commend the trial team and our law enforcement partners for their excellent work investigating this case and presenting it to the jury.”

“The FBI will continue to find, arrest, and prosecute those who seek to exploit our most vulnerable population, no matter who they are or what their profession is,” stated Special Agent in Charge Douglas DePodesta of the FBI Memphis Field Office.

“This individual abused his position of trust as an FBI technician to prey on the vulnerability of children,” Homeland Security Investigations Nashville Special Agent in Charge Rana Saoud said. “Thanks to the outstanding teamwork between the dedicated men and women at HSI Nashville and our federal, state and local law enforcement partners, we were able to remove this dangerous predator from the community before he could victimize any more innocent children.”

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Carroll is set to be sentenced on Aug. 9. According to officials, Carroll faces a mandatory minimum prison sentence of five years and a maximum sentence of life.

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