A 53-year-old Fort McCoy man who impersonated a federal agent to coerce children into sending him explicit photos will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
On Friday, Eddie Joe Oglesby, Jr. was sentenced to 80 years in federal prison for two counts of production of child sex abuse material and one count of receipt of sex abuse material.
Oglesby had been charged in a superseding indictment on September 13, 2022, and a federal jury found him guilty on October 14, 2022.
According to testimony and evidence that was presented during the trial, Oglesby created an elaborate false identity that he used to impersonate a federal agent. He proceeded to use this false identity to coerce underage female victims to produce and send him sexually explicit images over the internet.
While posing as the false agent, Oglesby threatened to have the victims arrested, imprisoned, institutionalized, or killed if they did not comply with his demands.
On September 27, 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) searched Oglesby’s residence and found him with an underage female runaway. A search of Oglesby’s cellphone showed that he was logged into multiple social media applications under both his real and false identity.
On the cellphone belonging to Oglesby, FBI agents discovered 473 pages of electronic communications between him and one of his victims.
“This case exemplifies the commitment of the FBI and our law enforcement partners to identify and locate abusers who prey on our children,” stated Special Agent in Charge Sherri E. Onks for the Jacksonville Division. “The crimes committed by this predator are inexcusable and we will stop at nothing to thwart criminals like him from taking advantage of innocent youth.”
This case was 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 United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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. Additional information about the nationwide initiative can be found on the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood webpage.