JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (TCN) — A 56-year-old man has been found guilty by a federal jury of 11 counts related to the production and possession of child sexual abuse material.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida announced the conviction of Frederick Karl Hildenbrand on May 21. He was found guilty of nine counts of producing CSAM and two counts of possessing CSAM.
Hildenbrand and his wife lived in Ohio from 2004 to 2014 before moving to Florida, according to evidence shown to jurors. At the time he lived in Ohio, Hildenbrand produced CSAM tapes and electronic files that showed him abusing children, toddlers, and infants. He took the files to Florida when he moved there and placed them in a safe inside a storage unit he rented in 2018.
According to the DOJ, the unit was auctioned off in 2024 after Hildenbrand’s payments were not being processed any longer due to new ownership of the facility. The person who bought the unit’s contents found the tapes and files in the safe, as well as soiled children’s underwear, and turned these items over to the authorities who began an investigation.
When Hildenbrand learned about the auctioning of his unit, he called the company to see how he could get the items back. The call was being recorded and he was speaking to an undercover agent. When Hildenbrand arrived at the facility on Aug. 4, 2024, under the impression he was picking up his belongings, he was arrested.
That same day, a search warrant was executed at his home, and it was found that during the time he lived in Florida, Hildenbrand had filmed himself abusing children until June 2024. In addition, authorities found poetry discussing his lust for children; he called himself an “elite-ranked pedophile” in the writings, according to the DOJ.
According to the DOJ, Hildenbrand faces 15 to 30 years in federal prison for each production count and up to 20 years for each possession count. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 22.
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