Exceptional Student Education Assistant Indicted For Transporting And Receiving Child Sexual Abuse Material

Tampa, Florida - United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announces the return of an indictment charging Marrell Dion Speights (32, St. Petersburg) with receipt, transportation, and possession of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). If convicted on all counts, Speights faces a maximum penalty of 60 years in federal prison and will be required to register as a sex offender.

According to the indictment and criminal complaint, Speights transported, received, and possessed visual depictions of children under the age of 12 being sexually abused. On June 19, 2025, Speights attempted to enter the United States at the Tampa International Airport from a Canadian flight that was returning from a trip to Japan. He was stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents who reviewed his cellphone and found images of CSAM in the hidden photos feature.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection - Tampa. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Erin Claire Favorit.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.