Former TSA employee imprisoned for 15 years on child porn charges

A former TSA employee has been sent to prison for 15 years after pleading guilty to texting sexually explicit messages to a young girl and asking the child for nude photos of herself engaged in sex acts, federal authorities said Monday.

Gary Linder Jr., 27, was sentenced in Miami federal court for enticing a minor to engage in illicit sexual activity and attempting to produce child pornography. U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom also gave him 15 years of probation after he is released from prison.

The Fort Lauderdale man, who worked for the Transportation Security Administration, began communicating with the 11-year-old girl via text messages in February, according to court records. Her phone was turned over to law enforcement and an undercover investigation was launched.

During the following months, Linder discussed sexually explicit content with a person he believed to be the girl, according to court records. In several text messages, he requested nude photos of the girl engaged in sex acts.

Linder was unaware that the person receiving the text messages was an undercover agent.

Linder pleaded guilty to the two charges in July, leading to his sentencing on Friday.

The investigation was led by the FBI and Plantation Police Department, with assistance from the Coral Springs and Miramar police departments. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jodi L. Anton.

This story was originally published November 5, 2018 at 11:45 AM.