Florida man sentenced to 12 years for distributing child sexual abuse videos

FORT MYERS, Fla. – A Southwest Florida Inter-Agency Child Exploitation and Persons Trafficking (INTERCEPT) Task Force investigation led to a Florida man being sentenced to 12 years and six months in federal prison for distributing videos depicting the sexual abuse of a child.

The court also sentenced Dominic Lawrence Carsi, 34, Naples, to a term of supervised release for life and ordered him to register as a sex offender. Carsi pleaded guilty Oct. 31, 2023.

According to court documents, on Feb. 27, 2023, Carsi distributed videos of young children being sexually abused through his social media account to an undercover agent with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) located in Minnesota. Using the chat function in another social media app, Carsi wrote to the undercover agent that he had plenty more.

On April 11, 2023, agents with HSI Fort Myers executed a search warrant for Carsi’s residence and seized his cellphone and computer. The subsequent forensic examination of the devices revealed more than 600 images and over 570 videos depicting sexual abuse of children. During an interview with agents, Carsi admitted that he watched and downloaded child sex abuse material. He remembered the conversation with the undercover agent and admitted that he sent a video of a baby and another video of a four-year-old child being sexually abused.

“This deviant collected and distributed child sexual abuse images on the internet, making a permanent record of horror that perpetually victimizes these children for a lifetime,” said HSI Tampa Assistant Resident Agent in Charge John Yancey. “This sentencing is a testament to the partnerships in the Southwest Florida INTERCEPT Task Force to successfully target the abhorrent behavior of predators who prey upon our most vulnerable.”

This case was investigated by HSI, a member of the Southwest Florida INTERCEPT Task Force, which also includes Collier County Sheriff’s Office and Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Yolande G. Viacava.

This is another case 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 the United States attorney’s offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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.

HSI is the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel and finance move. HSI’s workforce of more than 8,700 employees consists of more than 6,000 special agents assigned to 237 cities throughout the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’ largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.

Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE.gov)