U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell has sentenced Douglas Alan Vander Laan, a 68-year-old resident of Saint James City, Florida, to five years in federal prison for possessing and accessing child sexual abuse images and videos. In addition to the prison term, Vander Laan received a 15-year supervised release period and must register as a sex offender. He pleaded guilty on August 20, 2024.
Court documents reveal that between June and August 2023, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received four cyber tips from an Electronic Service Provider. The tips indicated that Vander Laan uploaded files depicting child sexual abuse material onto an online visual search service to find similar images.
On November 28, 2023, agents contacted Vander Laan at his workplace where he admitted to using the visual search service to view unclothed images of children. That same day, the FBI executed a search warrant at his residence and seized his laptop. A forensic examination uncovered images and videos of child sexual abuse material.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Fort Myers Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, which includes participation from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Yolande G. Viacava.
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse nationwide. Project Safe Childhood brings together federal, state, and local resources to prosecute offenders who exploit children while also working to identify and rescue victims.