Pasco County School Employee Charged with Possession of Child Sex Abuse Material

Tampa, Florida - Joel Thomas Lust (51, New Port Richey) has been charged by federal indictment with possessing child sex abuse material. If convicted, Lust faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement.

According to the indictment, between March 2023 and May 2024, Lust possessed and accessed with intent to view a matter which contained a visual depiction involving the sexual abuse of a child under the age of 12.

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 the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Courtney Derry.

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, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.