Newberry man sentenced to 60 years in federal prison for production of child pornography

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Justin Harold Krumwiede, 42, of Newberry, has been sentenced to 60 years in federal prison on two counts of production of child pornography. The sentence was announced yesterday by Jason R. Coody, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

Krumwiede was arrested in March 2022 and charged with raping an 11-year-old girl in 2019-20. He was released on bail and re-arrested in May 2022 after child pornography images were found on his phone and other devices.

A second victim came forward in July 2022, and charges of lewd and lascivious exhibition, possession of child pornography, and directing a sexual performance by a child were added. Krumwiede has been in the Alachua County Jail since that time, and he is still facing charges in all three cases.

According to a release from the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, Krumwiede’s devices were examined and found to contain hundreds of images of child pornography. Further investigation led to the identification of two different children whose sexual abuse had been filmed by Krumwiede in New Mexico in 2016 and Texas in 2017. The children had since become adults and were located and interviewed by law enforcement. They confirmed they had been the victim of sexual abuse by Krumwiede and identified themselves in the images that he had created.

“This significant sentence is a result of HSI’s relentless pursuit of those who choose to victimize children,” said HSI Jacksonville Assistant Special Agent in Charge K. Jim Phillips. “Law enforcement partnerships, like the one between HSI and the Gainesville Police Department, as well as our HSI partners in Waco and Pittsburg, are key to identifying and removing predators from our communities.”

“This successful prosecution is the result of the hard work and dedication of many law enforcement professionals from both state and federal agencies,” said North Florida ICAC Task Force Commander Chris King. “The safety of our children is a common priority and through unified effort, this dangerous child predator was ultimately brought to justice.”

Krumwiede’s prison sentence will be followed by a lifetime of supervised release. He will also be required to register as a sex offender and be subject to all sex offender conditions.

The case was investigated by Internet Crime Against Children Task Force Gainesville Police Department and Department of Homeland Security. Assistant United States Attorney Frank Williams prosecuted the case.

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.