Nashville FBI technician convicted of child pornography charges
A former FBI technician was convicted of child pornography charges this week.
A federal jury on Monday convicted Justin D. Carroll, of Antioch, of seven charges against him for sharing sexually explicit chats and images with three 14-year-old girls between June 2020 and late April 2021. During that time, Carroll, 41, worked as an electronics technician for the FBI.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Tennessee, the investigation into Carroll began after one of the victims mailed a Valentine's Day package to him at the Nashville FBI office in 2021. That victim was later identified as a 14-year-old girl from Rhode Island.
According to the attorney's office, Carroll kept communicating with her even after her mother sent him an email advising him of her daughter's age and questioning why she sent him a package.
The investigation found sexually explicit pictures of the children in Carroll's social media accounts and on his cell phone. It also found images of Carroll were in one of the child's social media accounts and on another's cell phone.
“It is no longer adequate to keep our children physically separated from strangers,” said U.S. Attorney Henry C. Leventis in a news release. “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 jury convicted Carroll of three counts of transfer of obscene material to a minor, two counts of receipt of child pornography, one count of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Monica R. Morrison and Juliet Aldridge. It was investigated by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security.
“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,” said Special Agent in Charge Douglas DePodesta of the FBI Memphis Field Office, in a news release.
U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger will sentence Carroll on Aug. 9.
Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him at emealins@gannett.com or follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @EvanMealins
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville FBI technician convicted of child pornography charges
