A 31-year-old Palm Coast man has been sentenced to eight years in prison after a narcotics arrest last year led detectives to discover child sexual abuse material on his phone, including files depicting victims under the age of 5. Eric Hoover Jr. pleaded guilty and no contest to a combined set of drug and child exploitation charges before Circuit Judge Dawn D. Nichols handed down the sentence on Wednesday, August 5.
Hoover's case began more than a year earlier, when the Flagler County Sheriff's Office Special Investigations Unit opened a narcotics investigation that led to his arrest on June 10, 2025, as part of “Operation: Summer Slammer,” a countywide crackdown that resulted in 19 arrests across Palm Coast and Bunnell, according to WNDB - News Daytona Beach. The Problem Area Crime Enforcement unit carried out the arrest, and Hoover was initially booked on a charge of possession of cocaine with intent to sell.
That arrest is what opened the door to a far more disturbing discovery. After Hoover was taken into custody, detectives obtained a search warrant for his phone, and the sheriff's office Digital Forensic Unit performed what investigators called a forensic autopsy of the device. The Flagler County Buzz reports the search uncovered 23 files of sexually explicit photos and videos depicting victims determined to be under 5 years old.
A Second Arrest, While Already Behind Bars
Hoover was still being held without bond at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility when the case escalated. On July 31, 2025, he was re-arrested and hit with 11 additional counts, including 10 counts of possessing child sexual abuse material and one count of allowing a child to engage in a sexual performance, per the same station's report. The sheriff's office Cyber Crimes Unit took over from there, working the digital forensics side of the case in partnership with the Northeast Florida INTERCEPT Task Force.
That task force, formed in March 2023 with technology and funding support from the non-profit Operation Light Shine, brings together federal, state and local agencies across six Northeast Florida counties to combat child exploitation and human trafficking, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In 2024 alone, the task force initiated 1,220 child exploitation investigations, seized more than 10 million digital images and videos, identified 28 victims and made 66 arrests across the region, ICE says.
Guilty Pleas Across Two Case Files
In court, Hoover pleaded guilty to 10 counts of possession of a sexual performance by a child. He also pleaded no contest to possession of cocaine with intent to sell, possession of drug paraphernalia, and unlawful use of a two-way communication device, according to the Palm Coast Observer. Judge Nichols sentenced him to eight years in prison on the child sexual abuse material charges and five years on the narcotics charges, with the sentences running concurrently, giving Hoover a maximum of eight years behind bars.
The severity of the child exploitation charges traces back to the age of the victims depicted. Under Florida Statutes Section 827.071 and Section 775.0847, possession of child sexual abuse material is reclassified from a third-degree felony to a second-degree felony when the material depicts children under 5 years old, raising the maximum sentence from 5 to 15 years per count, according to the Brancato Law Firm, P.A.
What Eight Years Actually Means Behind Bars
Florida's truth-in-sentencing law means Hoover's eight-year term is not likely to shrink much through good behavior. Under Florida Statute Section 944.275, state prisoners must serve at least 85 percent of their court-ordered sentence before becoming eligible for any gain-time release, which would require Hoover to serve a minimum of roughly 6.8 years in state custody, per the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He is currently being held at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility in Palm Coast awaiting transfer to Florida Department of Corrections custody.
Once released, Hoover will serve five years of sex offender probation and must register as a sex offender for life. Under Florida Statute Section 943.0435, individuals convicted of felony child sexual abuse material offenses face mandatory lifetime registration, which includes permanent compliance with residential and employment reporting requirements, as Hoodline has previously reported.
A Case Built Across Multiple Units
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly framed the outcome as a product of coordination across his agency, moving the case from narcotics surveillance to arrest to digital forensics. Staly described the result as “the definition of a team effort,” a characterization that speaks to how a routine drug bust wound up exposing a far more serious crime. The case follows other recent Flagler County child exploitation prosecutions, including Hoodline's coverage of a Palm Coast man arrested over AI-generated child images earlier this year.
