Gainesville man pleads guilty to federal charges of possessing thousands of videos and images of child pornography

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Daniel Reginald Hanna, II, 38, of Gainesville, has pleaded guilty in federal court to receipt and possession of child pornography. The plea was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

U.S. Attorney Heekin said, “I deeply appreciate the commitment of our state and federal law enforcement partners to keeping our children safe from predators like this defendant by zealously investigating these crimes. My office will continue to aggressively prosecute these sick individuals to the fullest extent to ensure they face significant prison time.”

Warning: this article includes disturbing content about sexual crimes against young children.

On May 23, 2024, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a CyberTip about child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on a Dropbox account. The tip included 163 videos uploaded by an account in 2014-15; the account allegedly attempted to share one of the videos on May 23, 2024.

One of the login addresses corresponded with a Cox account that was owned by the resident of an apartment in Bella Vista Village (110 NW 39th Avenue).

In response to a subpoena, Dropbox provided a name and Yahoo email address for the account, 244 CSAM videos, and 37 age-questionable videos.

A subpoena to Yahoo revealed that the email account was owned by Reggie Hanna. A subpoena to Verizon revealed that the phone corresponding to one of the login IP addresses was billed to Daniel R. Hanna of Hawthorne.

A Gainesville Police Department detective found Hanna in the driver’s license database and learned that he now lives in Bella Vista Village but previously lived in Hawthorne; Hanna reportedly goes by “Reggie Hanna.” The GRU account at the Bella Vista Village address also belongs to Daniel Hanna.

A search warrant was executed at Hanna’s residence on March 13. Post Miranda, Hanna reportedly said he has lived there by himself for about 15 months; he reportedly said he uses a neighbor’s WiFi with their permission. He then reportedly requested an attorney and left the apartment while officers were still searching it.

The search reportedly produced “numerous” electronic devices and a child-like sex doll with several pairs of children’s underwear. CSAM was reportedly found on at least two devices, including over 2,500 CSAM videos on one device, some of which included sex toys and/or BDSM/violent content against a child. The Yahoo account was reportedly found on both devices.

Hanna faces up to 40 years in federal prison

Hanna faces a minimum of five years’ imprisonment and up to forty years total. Following his release, Hanna will have to register as a sex offender and will be on supervised release for at least five years.  

The case involved a joint investigation by the Gainesville Police Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Adam Hapner.

Sentencing is scheduled for February 10, 2026, at 1:00 pm in Gainesville, Florida, before Chief District Court Judge Allen C. Winsor.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice and led by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Divisions Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), it marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.