Last week, Eugene Douglas Reid, III, 48, of Vestavia, was convicted of distribution and transportation of child pornography, following a three-day jury trial before U.S. District Court Judge R. David Proctor. U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Carlton L. Peeples made the announcement.

In 2020, FBI Milwaukee, in collaboration with the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office, was investigating numerous groups of individuals engaged in the receipt, possession, distribution and possible production of child sexual abuse material through a proactive operation.

As part of the FBI’s Operation, online covert employees documented these illegal activities and forwarded the documentation for further investigation to the appropriate FBI field office. The evidence at trial established that Reid had distributed and transported numerous videos and images of child sexual abuse material on the Kik messaging application in various private groups during the first half of 2020.

The maximum penalty for distribution of child pornography and transportation of child pornography is 20 years in prison, and a term of post-imprisonment supervised release of at least 5 years up to life.

The FBI Birmingham’s Child Exploitation Human Trafficking Task Force investigated the case with the assistance of FBI Milwaukee Division, Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office, Vestavia Hills Police Department, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kristen S. Osborne and R. Leann White are prosecuting the case.