United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that a federal jury has found Jesse James Bertetto (29, Webster) guilty of four counts of distributing, receiving, and possessing child sexual abuse material. Bertetto faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 5 years, up to 20 years, in federal prison for each count. He is also required to register as a sex offender. Bertetto had been indicted on May 10, 2022.

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, in December 2020, Bertetto possessed child sexual abuse material on his cellphone, including images and videos of minors under the age of 12. The web history on his cellphone revealed that he had searched for child sexual abuse material and had visited websites known to law enforcement as frequently containing child sexual abuse material.

In January 2022, Bertetto continued to possess images and videos of children on another cellphone, including young children being sexually abused. He also actively traded videos of child sexual abuse material over a social media platform in January 2022.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) – Tampa, and the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ilyssa M. Spergel.

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.

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