NASHVILLE (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – A Fort Campbell soldier has pleaded guilty to child pornography charges involving several teenage girls, some as young as 13.
Robert Cecilio, 40, of Clarksville, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, four counts of receipt of child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography depicting a prepubescent minor, U.S. Attorney Braden H. Boucek for the Middle District of Tennessee said in a press release.
“Cecilio hid behind a fake name and a screen to prey on young girls across the country. But anonymity on the internet is no shield from accountability,” Boucek said in the release. “This office will continue to identify, investigate, and prosecute those who exploit children to the full extent of the law. I commend the FBI and Army CID for their outstanding work in identifying these victims and bringing this offender to justice.”
According to the plea agreement, from at least June 2024 until his arrest in August 2025, Cecilio used Snapchat accounts containing variations of the name “Gabe” to communicate with minor girls, typically claiming he was 19 or 20 years old. He persuaded the girls to produce and send him sexually explicit images and videos of themselves, which he received over the internet and, in some cases, saved. Investigators identified five victims, ranging in age from 13 to 18, who lived in Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky and Tennessee.
The FBI identified one of the victims, a 16-year-old girl in Florida, in June 2025 and traced the Snapchat account she had been communicating with to Cecilio, the release said. On Aug. 8, 2025, agents executed a search warrant at Cecilio’s home and seized multiple electronic devices. Agents also seized Cecilio’s cell phone after stopping him as he entered Fort Campbell. Four of Cecilio’s cell phones contained child sexual abuse material, including a video depicting two prepubescent children.
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U.S. District Judge Aleta A. Trauger will sentence Cecilio on Oct. 21, 2026. Cecilio faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison on each sexual exploitation count; a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years and a maximum sentence of 20 years on each receipt count; and up to 20 years on the possession count, the release said. He also faces fines of up to $250,000 on each count and a term of supervised release of at least five years and up to life. Cecilio will be required to register as a sex offender, has agreed to pay restitution to his victims.
“There is no safe haven for those who exploit children,” Special Agent in Charge Terence G. Reilly of the FBI Nashville Field Office said in the release. “The FBI and our partners remain steadfast in our commitment to identify, apprehend, and hold accountable any individual who sexually exploits minors for their own depraved gratification.”
“Mr. Cecilio’s plea is a testament to the diligent work of our special agents, the FBI, and prosecutorial partners at the United States Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Tennessee,” said Special Agent in Charge John McCabe of the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division’s Mid Central Field Office.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Nashville Field Office, Clarksville Resident Agency, and the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Monica R. Morrison is prosecuting the case.
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