Gainesville man arraigned on multiple child porn charges

GAINESVILLE - A 33-year-old Gainesville man, indicted earlier this month on child pornography charges, was arraigned Monday in federal court.

Federal prosecutors said Michael Cannon, II, was arraigned on charges that he produced, distributed and received child pornography. The indictment was returned by a federal grand jury on April 9.

U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said the two girls involved in the alleged crimes were in Cannon's care.

"Law enforcement officers have identified and rescued the children, and the defendant will now have to answer for participating in this cycle of victimization," said Yates in a press release.

Yates said that Cannon in December 2012 allegedly posted several images of a 10-year-old girl on a foreign-based website where people could post and share photographs. She said at least one of those photos was child pornography.

She said several individuals posted comments on Cannon's photographs and asked about trading photos. Cannon is accused of giving those persons his e-mail address and, when they wrote him, he allegedly sent them explicit photographs showing him in the act of molesting two young girls. In return, he received dozens of e-mails containing images and videos of other children being sexually abused.

Court information indicates the charge of producing child pornography carries a mandatory minimum period of confinement of 15 years and a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. The charge of receiving child pornography carries a mandatory minimum confinement period of 5 years and a maximum term of 20 years in prison. The charge of possessing child pornography carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Each charge carries a fine of up to $250,000 and a period of supervised release from 5 years to life.