Mother sentenced to 25 years for producing, transporting and possessing child pornography

FORT MYERS, Fla. – A mother from Alva, Fla., was sentenced to 25 years in prison Monday on child pornography charges following a joint investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Innocent Images Task Force and the Lee County Sheriff's Office.

According to the charging document, Candice Marie Miller, 31, knowingly produced images of two minor children engaging in sexually explicit conduct and sent many of these pornographic images over the Internet to a man whom she met in a chat room. Miller possessed in excess of 500 images of child pornography. She pleaded guilty to two counts of transporting child pornography and two counts of producing child pornography on July 7.

The investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide ICE initiative to identify, investigate and arrest those who prey on children, including human traffickers, international sex tourists, Internet pornographers, and foreign-national predators whose crimes make them deportable.

ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE or its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.