JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — (The video above is from an unrelated story)
Twin brothers in St. Augustine have now been sentenced in a case involving images of child sexual abuse, according to a press release from the District Attorney's Office.
U.S. District Judge Brian J. Davis sentenced Nicholas Woodyard to 10 years and 8 months in federal prison for distributing child sexual abuse materials, according to the release.
The 30-year-old will also have a life term of supervised release and be ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution to a victim of his crime.
Nicholas Woodyard pleaded guilty March 5, according to the release.
Co-defendant Patrick Woodyard, Nicholas Woodyard’s twin brother, was sentenced to 15 years and 8 months in federal prison December 2020, following his pleading guilty on Aug. 28, 2020.
Both men were indicted March 4, 2020, for the distribution, receipt and possession of images and videos depicting children being sexually abused.
According to court documents, Homeland Security Investigations began investigating the internet upload of an image depicting the sexual abuse of a child. Court documents suggest the image had been distributed from the Woodyard brothers’ residence in St. Augustine.
Court documents say agents executed a search warrant and seized electronic devices that contained hundreds of files of child sex abuse materials, including videos of the sexual assault of a toddler-aged child.
A forensic examination of one of these devices revealed Nicholas Woodyard’s efforts to secretly record his close family members while they were naked and his attempts and desires to engage in incest.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, working with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office and the Clay County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kelly S. Karase.
This is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.