A retired Jacksonville schoolteacher has been sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison for possessing images and videos of child sex abuse.
Michael Paul Gillis, 65, was sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison, must serve 10 years of supervised release and must forfeit his computer media.
FBI agents seized computers from Gillis containing at least 2,000 images and 150 videos depicting infants, toddlers and other young children being sexually abused, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Agents served a search warrant at Gillis' home on Feb. 2, 2022, while investigating an online network used to share child sex abuse materials. He pleaded guilty in April.
Gillis told investigators that he had been accessing child sex abuse material on the internet for 15 years, including the time while he was employed as a teacher.
Gillis worked for Duval County Public Schools from 1991 to 2007, according to an earlier report by WJCT News partner News4Jax.
Prosecutors said Gillis accessed the images at home. Gillis told the FBI he never acted on his fantasies, which he said he could not control.