Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Paul E. Byron has sentenced Eric Bales (31, Winter Park) to life imprisonment for the enticement of a minor to produce child pornography and 20 years’ imprisonment for the distribution of child sex abuse imagery, to be served consecutively. Bales had pleaded guilty on May 22, 2019.

According to testimony and court documents in August 2018, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police referred an internet-based case lead to Homeland Security Investigations in Orlando, who then executed a federal search warrant on Bales’s residence. HSI agents arrested Bales the same day. The investigation revealed that Bales was using an internet chat room to arrange a meeting with another minor the same morning that HSI had arrested him.

In 2009, Bales was the subject of a state child enticement investigation. He avoided prosecution but, in 2014, was arrested for lewd and lascivious battery on a 14-year-old child. Bales was convicted of willful child abuse and spent two and a half years in prison. After Bales was released from prison in October 2017, he immediately began viewing and collecting images and videos of children being sexually exploited. Bales collected and distributed the explicit imagery over internet using peer-to-peer applications. He also elicited the production of pornographic images from a 16-year-old girl, and shared those images via messaging applications with other minors.

“This serial child predator used social media to spread vile images across the digital spectrum,” said HSI Orlando Assistant Special Agent in Charge David J. Pezzutti. “This investigation highlights HSI’s authority to work with international and local partners, ultimately making our communities a safer place.”

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Brandon Bayliss, on assignment from the Office of Principal Legal Advisor, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Orlando, Florida – Eric Bales (30, Winter Park) has pleaded guilty to distributing child pornography and online enticement of a child to produce child pornography. He faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 10 years, and up to life, in federal prison. Bales has been in custody since his arrest on November 15, 2018. 

According to the plea agreement, beginning in August 2018, Bales obtained and distributed images and videos of child pornography over internet peer-to-peer applications. Bales also elicited the production of pornographic images from a 16-year-old girl, and shared those images via messaging apps. In 2014, prior to committing these offenses, Bales was convicted for willful child abuse in Florida state court.  

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations. It is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Brandon Bayliss, on assignment from the Office of Principal Legal Advisor, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.