News Releases

Tallahassee man arrested on child pornography charges

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Michael Shaine Shuman, 38, was arrested and charged on May 25 with 11 counts of possession and one count of transmission/distribution of child pornography, following an investigation by U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and the Leon County Sheriff's Office.

All are members of the North Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

"Through partnerships like the ones we have with the Leon County Sheriff's Office and this task force, ICE will continue to vigorously investigate child exploitation cases like this one," said Sue McCormick, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations overseeing Leon County.

Members of the task force recovered computer equipment, child pornographic images and videos.

"We continue to work closely with agencies such as FDLE and ICE so that we can aggressively deal with these types of cases in Leon County," said Leon County Sheriff Larry Campbell.

"Law enforcement is committed to catching those individuals who prey on Florida's most innocent citizens - our children," said Mike Phillips, a supervisory special agent with the FDLE's Computer Crime Center. "The partnership between local, state and federal agencies is growing and should send a message to child predators that this type of crime will not be tolerated in our state."

The investigation that led to this case was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide ICE initiative to identify, investigate and arrest those who prey on children, including human traffickers, international sex tourists, Internet pornographers, and foreign-national predators whose crimes make them deportable. Launched in July 2003, ICE agents have arrested more than 12,800 individuals through Operation Predator. ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-347-2423. This hotline is staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.