JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A former Clay County teacher was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison for distributing child pornography. Christopher Potter, 50, of Jacksonville, was also ordered to serve a 20-year term of supervised release, and must pay $3,000 in restitution to a victim of his crime.
Potter pleaded guilty to the charges on April 8. He worked as a teacher at Clay High School in Green Cove Springs from 2016 to 2017, and was a teacher at Orange Park High School from 1997 to 2004.
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Court documents reveal that in February 2018, Potter used a screen name, Mr. Fireball, to have online conversations with an undercover officer who was posing as a 14-year-old child. During the talks, Potter discussed meeting the child for sex and sent the child a video depicting a young child being sexually abused and also sent a video of himself performing a sexual act.
Several of Potter's computers and electronic devices were seized when a search warrant was served in September of last year. Prosecutors said his smartphone contained 15 videos and six images of child pornography along with as logs of online conversations on social media in which Potter discussed his sexual fantasies involving children.
During an interview, Potter admitted to sending child pornography and stated that he fantasizes about sexual acts with young girls, according to investigators.
The undercover operation that led to Potter's arrest and conviction is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.