Gainesville Groomer Sentenced for Federal CSAM Case

Disclaimer: This article contains graphic quotes from court documents depicting the child sexual abuse material that Daniel Hanna II possessed. Viewer discretion is heavily advised.

On Tuesday, the United States Attorney's Office of the Northern District of Florida (USAO-NDFL) announced that Daniel Reginald Hanna II, 38, was sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison on charges relating to the possession of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

Federal court records show Hanna used Snapchat to groom children for years but he wasn't charged with child solicitation.

Based on the federal indictment, Hanna was initially facing three charges in federal court. However, as part of a plea deal, the charge relating to the distribution of CSAM was dropped and Hanna pled guilty on the charges relating to receiving and possessing CSAM.

Under the conditions of the agreement, federal prosecutors did not set a negotiated sentence, giving Chief District Judge Allen Winsor discretion to hand down the maximum of 20 years for each charge, which he did not invoke.

Hanna was also facing over a dozen local charges relating to the possession of CSAM and images or videos of sexual abuse against animals. However, state prosecutors in Alachua County dismissed all of Hanna's local charges shortly before or soon after Hanna was sentenced in federal court.

“Today’s sentencing sends a clear message that crimes involving the exploitation of children will be met with unwavering accountability," said GPD Chief Nelson Moya in a press release by USAO-NDFL. “I want to commend the investigators, prosecutors, and partnering agencies whose dedication and persistence ensured that this individual was brought to justice. Protecting children remains one of our highest priorities. We will continue to use every resource available to identify offenders, support victims, and prevent these crimes from occurring.”

In their press release, U.S. Attorney John P. Heekin said, “The possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material are heinous crimes that have the effect of re-victimizing the innocent children who were sexually exploited every time the horrific images and videos of their abuse are shared. This sentence reflects the gravity of these crimes, and my office will continue to aggressively prosecute predators like this defendant to ensure we achieve justice for the victims of child sexual abuse and, ultimately, prevent future victimization from occurring.”

The case involved a joint investigation by the Gainesville Police Department (GPD) Internet Crimes Against Children Unit and Homeland Security Investigations.

According to court documents, Hanna kept the CSAM in a folder titled "Kids."

When serving the warrant, law enforcement located a "child-like" "sex doll torso with female, size-6 underwear on it. Law enforcement also located child pornography [CSAM] on two of [Hanna's] cell phones, both of which were manufactured outside the state of Florida."

The statement of facts reads, "One cell phone contained [59] files (three videos and [53] images) that are CSAM. Of the [59] files, [53] are visually unique. The videos range from ten seconds in length to [41] seconds in length. Five of the images involve pre-pubescent males being victimized, one image is BDSM, five images involve an object, and [35] images involve pre-pubescent females. The other cell phone contained 2,585 images or videos of CSAM (180 videos and 2,405 images). 2,388 are visually unique. 548 involved infant/toddlers. 269 involved an object or sex toy. 108 involved BDSM/violence against the child. 204 of the images/videos involve pre-pubescent males, and the majority involved pre-pubescent children."

The statement of facts goes into horrific detail of a video Hanna possessed that "depicts a nude female toddler being tortured and raped by an adult female with an object. At different times in the video, the toddler is stepped on, bound with rope, hanging upside down by her ankles, crying and struggling to escape, bound with tape at the wrists and mouth. whipped, having hot wax poured on her, and screaming."

The document states Hanna used the DuckDuckGo browser to view CSAM.

The sentencing memorandum states Hanna "admitted that he possessed over 2,600 files of [CSAM] on multiple electronic devices... However, Hanna expressly and unequivocally denied that he attempted to share one of those videos via Dropbox... Prior to the hearing, Hanna also declined to admit relevant conduct regarding his extensive online and sexually graphic communications with minors."

According to the sentencing memorandum, a report details that Hanna "had multiple social media application accounts, such as Snapchat and Tiktok, where Hanna stated he was a minor and was communicating with minors... Hanna’s Snapchat account alone included at least 36 conversations with other users who expressly claimed to be between the ages of 11 and 16... In many of these conversations, Hanna purported to be between the ages of 13 and 17, requested photographs of the minors, and commented on the minors’ appearance... In some of these conversations, Hanna also provided a fake name (i.e., 'Tanner')... While communicating with these minors, Hanna regularly introduced sexually explicit topics."

Attached to the memo is roughly 100 pages of deplorable chats showing Hanna's grooming against children. In one of the chats, Hanna said he'd been talking to the victim for nearly two years.

With another victim, documentation details Hanna grooming her over the course of four years.

"These are just some examples of Hanna’s online communications with minors," Assistant United States Attorney Adam Hapner wrote to the court ahead of sentencing. "There are many more conversations—over 100—where Hanna likely knew from photographs and other conversations that the other user was a minor but there was not an explicit mention of the user’s age in the messages... These examples are simply intended to demonstrate that Hanna is not merely a passive possessor of child pornography. In addition to maintaining a significant and disturbing collection of CSAM for over a decade, Hanna regularly conversed with minors––sometimes for years—attempting to groom them by introducing them to sexually explicit topics and ideas. Based upon his pervasive sexual interest in children and his willingness to act on that interest by contacting and communicating with minors, Hanna presents a significant danger to the public and should be sentenced accordingly."

Hanna is likely scheduled to be released in the mid-to-late 2030s. He was further sentenced to 12 years of supervised probation and he will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release.

It's unclear if Hanna has a specific release date scheduled, and it's also unclear which facility he's housed in. There are no results found when looking up Hanna's name on the federal inmate lookup.