Gainesville Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Child Exploitation Charges After Video Recording in Public Restrooms

Gainesville, Florida - Bryan James Shuping, 58, of Gainesville, Florida has pleaded guilty in federal court in Gainesville to one count of production of child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography. John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, announced the guilty plea.

U.S. Attorney Heekin said: "Keeping our kids safe from disgusting sexual predators, like this defendant, is of paramount importance to me and my office. We will continue to aggressively prosecute these crimes to ensure he and others like him remain locked away behind federal bars for as long as possible."

Court records reflect that on multiple occasions from June 18, 2025, to August 2, 2025, the defendant entered men's public bathrooms at the Oaks Mall and Depot Park in Gainesville, Florida, and filmed minors as they used the bathroom. The videos and images that the defendant produced were of the minors with their genitals exposed while they were attempting to use the bathroom. The defendant admitted that this was done for sexual gratification. The defendant also admitted to possessing other images of child pornography that he had downloaded from the internet.

The defendant faces a minimum mandatory 15 years up to life imprisonment. Sentencing is scheduled for February 16, 2027, at 10:30 a.m. at the United States Courthouse in Gainesville, Florida before Chief United States District Judge Allen C. Winsor.

This case is being jointly investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Gainesville Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Tyler Fleming.

If you have information regarding nonconsensual filming of minors during the dates and locations listed above please contact Homeland Security Investigations by email at [email protected].

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit Justice.gov/PSC.

The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation's principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of FloridaLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. website. For more information about the United States Attorney's Office, Northern District of Florida, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl.