Homosassa man sentenced to 75 years for child porn

BROOKSVILLE — A 49-year-old Homosassa man was sentenced Thursday to five consecutive 15-year prison terms — for a total of 75 years — for possessing child pornography.

Joe Edwin Rogers was convicted on July 30 on 125 counts of possessing child pornography. The six-person jury took little more than an hour before reaching a verdict.

During the trial, prosecutor Brian Trehy displayed all 125 pornographic images for the jury.

Rogers initially faced a minimum of 40 years in prison but Circuit Judge Jack Springstead opted for much longer sentences, calling the pornographic images "despicable."

"The judge commented that the images in the case … are hard to forget once you've seen them," Trehy said. "They are truly disturbing."

According to court documents, Rogers' girlfriend discovered a CD with pornographic images. She later gave it to authorities following a child custody dispute with Rogers.

The couple were living in Spring Hill when she found the CD, and they later moved to Homosassa. Rogers surrendered to Citrus County detectives on Nov. 9, 2009.

Rogers insisted that he planned to get rid of the CD before his girlfriend found it. He said he found the images on the Internet. His attorney, Charles Vaughn, plans to appeal the sentence.

Joel Anderson can be reached at joelanderson@sptimes.com or (352) 754-6120.