GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA – Howard Baxter Osgood, 78, of Gainesville, was sentenced on Wednesday, September 30, to 15 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to one count of production of child pornography. As a part of his sentence, Osgood was fined $35,000 and was ordered to pay $25,000 in restitution to the victim. In addition, after serving his term of imprisonment, Osgood will begin a lifetime term of supervised release. Lawrence Keefe, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, announced the sentence.
“This sentence sends a strong message to those who exploit children and cause severe and lasting trauma for their victims,” said U.S. Attorney Keefe. “With the dedicated help of our law enforcement partners, we will bring every investigative and prosecutorial resource to bear in order to protect our children from sexual predators like Osgood.”
The undisputed facts demonstrated that Osgood had a continuing relationship with a 14-year-old girl beginning in June 2011, and created sexually explicit images of her, including an image when she was 17. Osgood was a prominent jeweler in the Gainesville area.