An ex-paramedic in Florida who posted four videos of himself raping his 1-year-old daughter to the dark web was sentenced Thursday to 70 years in federal prison.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Middle District of Florida announced that James Lockhart, 31, was handed the maximum sentence months after pleading guilty to producing, distributing, and possessing child pornography. Between March 2016 and February 2018, Lockhart produced a four-part series for the dark web — internet paths that cannot be accessed via traditional search engines, and that are known to include disturbing or unlawful content — which depicted himself victimizing the child.
Citing court records, the Miami Herald reported that Lockhart used the handles
“StrangeWood” and “HardWood” and said in his posts that more videos would be forthcoming — and that he would take suggestions.
“In the videos, Lockhart displayed signs bearing the dark web forum’s name and his online moniker in order to gain notoriety in the forum and elsewhere. In addition to the dark web series, Lockhart created other sex abuse videos and images of the child,” federal authorities wrote.
Lockhart was also accused of bragging about sexually abusing another 1-year-old and collecting child pornography showing other victims. Prosecutors charged that an October 2018 search warrant executed at Lockhart’s Bradenton home produced 43 videos and at least 4,000 images showing child pornography.
Newsweek reported in April that Lockhart’s wife and mother of his two children identified the toddler victimized in the videos as their daughter. She also identified their daughter’s abuser as the girl’s father.
Lockhart was terminated from his job at Paramedics Logistics Florida, a private ambulance company, in light of his 2018 arrest.
“This deviant committed the most horrible atrocities imaginable to a 1-year-old child,” Homeland Security agent Michael B. Cochran said in a press statement. “HSI’s (Homeland Security Investigations) national and international partnerships have helped ensure that this predator will never again harm a child.”
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[Featured image: James Lockhart/Department of Justice]
