JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A convicted child sex offender from Jacksonville has been sentenced to 50 years in federal prison.
Prosecutors say 63-year-old Kevin John Merritt produced videos and photos showing the sexual abuse of a child.
Merritt was arrested in March 2023 after investigators linked him to a Facebook account that shared child exploitation material.
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He had already been convicted in 2011 for possessing child sex abuse images and was serving a 30-year supervised release term.
The case began after a CyberTipline report flagged files sent through Facebook Messenger in September 2022.
Detectives identified Merritt as the user behind the account.
When officers searched his home, they seized his phone and found images and videos of an identified child being abused.
In two of the videos, Merritt’s hand could be seen, according to investigators.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and the FBI investigated. The case was prosecuted under Project Safe Childhood, a federal program targeting child exploitation.
Action News has been following this case since 2023. Read our past stories below:
- Convicted sex offender from Jacksonville federally indicted, faces up to 110 years in prison
- Convicted Jacksonville child sex offender pleads guilty to producing child sexual abuse material
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