JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A 25-year-old Jacksonville man was sentenced to 12 years and seven months in federal prison for using social media apps to distribute videos depicting the sexual abuse of toddlers over the internet.
U.S. District Judge Jordan E. Pratt handed down the sentence to Tyler Bruce McClure, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.
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McClure was also ordered to serve 13 years of supervised release, pay $16,000 in restitution to child victims, and register as a sex offender. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announced the sentence Thursday following McClure’s guilty plea on June 17. McClure has been in custody since his arrest in Jacksonville on November 17.
The investigation began in June 2025 when the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office received information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding child sexual abuse material uploaded to an online app, the release detailed. The company that owns the application reported that illicit files were uploaded between May 23, 2025 and June 9, 2025 under the account user name “Ava_Tree_.”
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Investigators identified McClure as the account user after finding several explicit videos and text message conversations. The DOJ said in one exchange, McClure negotiated with another user to purchase abuse videos through a popular online payment app. Authorities also traced an internet protocol address used to upload the material to a Jacksonville residence where McClure lived.
Law enforcement officers executed a federal search warrant at the residence on Oct. 7, 2025. Detectives from JSO and the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, alongside Homeland Security Investigations agents, seized an electronic tablet belonging to McClure. Agents later located McClure at a local construction site that same day and seized his Samsung cell phone, the DOJ said.
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A forensic review of both devices uncovered at least 47 videos and seven photos depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct, including toddlers and prepubescent children in bondage, according to the release. Analysis also showed that McClure used a social media app on Sept. 26, 2025 to distribute a video showing several young children being abused.
The case was investigated by the Northeast Florida INTERCEPT Task Force, which includes Homeland Security Investigations Jacksonville, JSO, and sheriff’s offices in St. Johns, Clay and Columbia counties.
Assistant U.S. Attorney D. Rodney Brown prosecuted the case as part of Project Safe Childhood, a DOJ initiative created in 2006 to combat child sexual abuse and exploitation.
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