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Third child exploitation conviction for Pensacola man ends in federal prison term

PENSACOLA, Fla. - A Pensacola man convicted of child pornography possession was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in federal prison.

Kevin Simkins, 51, was convicted for the third time involving crimes against children. He has previously been convicted in the state of Florida for interfering with the custody of a child and in the state of Georgia for child molestation. Most of the Jan. 13 sentence will run consecutively to the term of imprisonment he received in Georgia in August 2009. In all, Simkins will spend the next 25 years in prison.

Simkins pleaded guilty to downloading images and videos of child pornography in April 2009. The sentencing was delayed until Jan. 13 due to the pending case in the state of Georgia that involved Simkins molesting his granddaughter. United States District Judge M. Casey Rodgers noted during the sentencing that she was greatly concerned with protecting the public from further crimes by Simkins. Judge Rodgers told Simkins that it appeared to her that he could not control his behavior. Simkins' term of imprisonment will be followed by a lifetime of supervised release.

This investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (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 almost 12,000 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.

This investigation was conducted by ICE's Office of Investigations in Pensacola.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David L. Goldberg.