A former Florida mall Santa was jailed Wednesday for receiving and possessing hundreds of images and videos of child sexual abuse, much of which was created by his son using neighborhood children.
James Edward Cox, Jr., 80, was given eight years, one month in prison, but prosecutors did not get to see his son Henry Cox in court, as he shot and killed himself as federal agents arrived at the family home in St. Cloud in early March 2024.
According to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), officers had found hundreds of images and multiple videos showing abuse of infants and young girls on devices belonging to Cox Jr. at his home in January.
Investigators were alerted to the pair when Cox Jr. uploaded images of abuse to a search engine, looking for more.
“Actively scouring the dark web to find and collect sexual abuse content of children perpetuates the suffering of innocent victims around the world,” HSI Orlando assistant special agent in charge David Pezzutti said in a press release.
The former mall Santa pleaded guilty to the receipt and possession of child sexual abuse materials in August, and he was sentenced December 11.
St. Cloud Police Department was first alerted to the father and son on November 15, 2023, the criminal complaint seen by Newsweek showed.
The department was tipped off by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that an unknown person was uploading child sexual abuse material to Microsoft BingImage—a reverse image search engine.
Those images, which were traced back to Cox Jr., included pre-pubescent and pubescent girls in stages of undress, the documents said.
When officers showed up at the pair’s home on January 19, 2024, the father admitted to possessing the images used in the search, while his son denied any knowledge.
Officers seized several devices and determined that Henry Cox had been producing the videos, with his face seen or his voice heard in some of them. They then identified two of the victims as a 12-year-old boy and an 8-year-old girl living in the neighborhood.
Investigators said the material had been produced between January and July 2022 in Osceola County and in March 2024, a federal arrest warrant was issued.
While Cox Jr. was apprehended, his son took his own life before the warrant could be fully carried out, according to Click Orlando.
The arrest shocked those in the St. Cloud neighborhood, where some had known the suspect as “Santa”, according to Fox 35.
Cox Jr. took a plea deal in August and after a slight delay from November, he was sentenced Wednesday.
“This sentencing reflects the gravity of this predator’s crimes, as well as HSI’s commitment to shedding a light on the dark web to protect children from harm,” Pezzutti said.
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