Ex-DCF spokesman indicted on child porn charges

TAMPA -- Former Florida Department of Children and Families spokesman Al Zimmerman has been indicted on federal charges of production of child pornography, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced today.

Zimmerman, 41, was arrested Feb. 1 on similar state charges and fired from his job. A federal complaint followed on Feb. 8.

Federal investigators accuse him of offering at least two teenage boys money to pose for nude photographs that would be sold in Germany. Zimmerman met one of the boys, a foster child, through his job, investigators said.

If convicted on the federal charge, Zimmerman would get a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison. In the state case, he faces eight charges and could get up to 120 years in convicted.

Zimmerman is accused of committing the crimes between October 2004 and December 2007 in Hillsborough and Orange counties. He's being held without bail in a Citrus County jail.

-Kevin Graham, Times staff writer