Below is an official statement from the US Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida:
Ocala, Florida – United States District Judge Thomas P. Barber has sentenced Jon Don Bannister, Jr. (31, Clermont) to 28 years in federal prison for two counts of production of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Bannister entered a guilty plea on July 21, 2025.
According to court documents, on April 26 and May 4, 2023, in Lake County, Bannister produced CSAM by filming himself engaging in sexual activity with a 14-year-old child. An investigation by law enforcement showed that Bannister had been supplying vape pens and drugs to minors. In return for these items, Bannister had asked the minors to provide him with nude images of themselves.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the Mascotte Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sarah Janette Swartzberg.
This is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
