New Port Richey Man Sentenced To Federal Prison For Producing Child Sex Abuse Materials

NEW PORT RICHEY, FL — A New Port Richey man will spend the next three decades in federal prison after being sentenced Wednesday for producing and possessing child sex abuse materials.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Virginia Hernandez Covington sentenced Eric Paul Jones, 44, to 30 years and five months in federal prison for the production and possession of child sex abuse material.

The court also ordered Jones to forfeit any electronic devices used in the crime and pay $18,528 in restitution as well as give $18,000 to the Amy, Vicky and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Fund.

Jones pleaded guilty on Oct. 13.

According to court documents, Jones belonged to an online group dedicated to discussing and trading child sex abuse material.

On April 19, 2021, Jones began communicating with an undercover FBI agent by cell phone. Investigators said he told the undercover agent that he had sex with a 10-year-old child. Jones then sent the undercover agent sexually explicit videos and images he made of the 10-year-old as well as child sex abuse materials of other children.

A few days later, on April 22, the FBI executed a search warrant at Jones’ home and confiscated the cell phone Jones used to communicate with the undercover agent, the FBI said.

On the cell phone, the FBI said it found more than 100 sexually explicit child abuse images and videos of young children. Some of the children were infants and toddlers who were subjected to bondage and sadomasochistic acts.

The FBI also found the images and videos that Jones sent to the undercover agent on his cell phone, the FBI said.

Jones later admitted to agents that he had been producing child sex abuse images of the child victim for several years, according to agents.

“While it’s heartbreaking to learn of yet another child victim of a sexual predator, it’s reassuring to learn of the dedicated work by special agents to make sure that predator spends a long time in prison for his despicable crime,” said FBI Tampa Division Special Agent in Charge David Walker.

This case was investigated by the FBI with assistance from the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia, the Pasco Sheriff's Office and the Tampa Police Department.