Florida man gets 25 years in prison for exploiting poor children in PH

  Dennis Pollard, 67, is facing 57 counts related to child pornography. (Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office)

MIAMI – A Pahokee, Florida man was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for paying impoverished children in the Philippines to send him pornographic images of themselves and for committing other child exploitation crimes, some of which involved toddlers.

Dennis Pollard, 67,  was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robin L. Rosenberg in West Palm Beach federal court.

Pollard used a social media messenger application in 2020 to find young girls in the Philippines whom he could groom for the purpose of producing child sexual abuse material (CSAM).  Pollard offered, and sometimes provided, money through wire services in exchange for pornographic images of the girls.

Over nearly six-weeks, Pollard convinced a 13-year-old girl, living in poverty, to record herself performing sexual acts in exchange for money.  Pollard also directed a woman in the Philippines to record herself sexually abusing her two toddler-aged children.

Pollard distributed pornographic films of his victims to groom others and get more such material.  In 2015, Pollard attempted to produce CSAM through a different account on the same social media messenger application.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s (PBSO) Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force executed a search warrant at Pollard’s Pahokee residence.  Pollard was found to have dozens of child sexual abuse images and videos on his phone, as well as on CDs that he had possessed for nearly a decade.