Former Brooksville Mayor Kevin Hohn was arrested and charged with child exploitation offenses on Friday February 19. The federal criminal complaint charges Hohn with possession and distribution of images depicting the sexual abuse of children.
The criminal complaint states that “in September and December 2020, investigators identified a certain internet protocol address as having distributed images and a video depicting child pornography. Further investigation traced the IP address used to distribute the files to Hohn’s residence in Brooksville.”
The United State Attorney’s Office Middle District of Florida details what happened when they served the warrant. “On February 19, 2021, investigators executed a search warrant at Hohn’s residence. Upon entry into the home, they found Hohn sitting in his office at a computer that was connected to an external hard drive. An examination of the external hard drive revealed more than 100 images depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Within these images, investigators discovered images of apparent child pornography that had been covertly recorded inside of Hohn’s home.”
Hohn is an Air Force veteran and a retired Special Agent with the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation. He descibed his time with the IRS as having “worked major financial investigations involving Organized Crime, Public Corruption, International Money Laundering and Counter-terrorism. I was promoted up through the ranks to Senior Management. After my retirement in 2005, I spent two years conducting Counter-Terrorism assessments overseas for the State Department and the intelligence community.”
Hohn was elected to the Brooksville City Council in 2011 and served as Mayor in 2014. In the 2020 Republican primary for Hernando County Commissioner, District 5 Kevin Hohn was defeated by Steve Champion with Mr. Champion receiving nearly 60% of the vote.
The United State Attorney’s Office Middle District of Florida pointed out that it is important to keep in mind that this is a criminal complaint which is only an allegation and every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, with assistance provided by the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office. The case will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Erin C. Favorit.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, which is a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. The initiative employs federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, while identifying and rescuing victims.
