State Attorney John F. Durrett announces that Ross David Emery, Jr., was found guilty by a jury of ten counts of Possession of Child Pornography. The jury deliberated for less than an hour and returned a guilty verdict for every count he was charged with. While Possession of Child Pornography is a third degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison, Emery’s charges were reclassified as second degree felonies, due to the content of the images he possessed. As a result of the reclassification, Emery faces up to 150 years in prison.
Working off of a cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), the Florida Department of Law Enforcement found images on Emery’s Facebook account that constituted Child Sexual Abuse Material. The case was prosecuted by Assistant State Attorney’s Phillip Kelley and Sean Crisafulli.
Because a jury of Emery’s peers found him guilty of Possession of Child Pornography, he will have to register as a Sexual Offender and be subject to mandatory registration requirements, which include restrictions on where he can live and work. The Honorable Melissa G. Olin will formally sentence Ross David Emery, Jr. at a hearing scheduled on Wednesday, October 11, 2023 at 3:30pm.
