Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Jacksonville, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that Daniel Todd Manning (43, Jacksonville) has pleaded guilty to possessing several firearms after having been convicted of felony child sex offenses in the State of Kansas.  He faces up to 10 years in federal prison. Manning has been in custody since his arrest on April 30, 2014, in Jacksonville. A sentencing hearing has not yet been set.

According to court documents, on July 26, 2013, Manning was adjudicated guilty, in Kansas, on multiple counts of indecent liberties with a child. Prior to his sentencing, he fled the state and traveled to Jacksonville, where he established a residence. Because Manning was a convicted felony sex offender and had fled from supervision, Kansas authorities issued a warrant for his arrest. Law enforcement in Jacksonville, including the United States Marshals Service, discovered the location of Manning’s Jacksonville residence and, on April 30, 2014, entered the location to search for him. During the search, they observed several rifles in a glass-front gun case in Manning’s bedroom, as well as a pistol located inside the nightstand next to Manning’s bed. Manning had concealed himself in the attic of the residence. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office SWAT team seized the firearms, including five rifles, two shotguns, and a pistol. Hours later, Manning surrendered. He later stated that he had brought all of the guns with him when he fled from Kansas to avoid sentencing.

This case was investigated by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the United States Marshals Service, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown. This is another case prosecuted as part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” Program - a nationwide, gun-violence reduction strategy. United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III, along with Regina Lombardo, Special Agent in Charge, ATF, is coordinating the Project Safe Neighborhoods effort here in the Middle District of Florida in cooperation with federal, state, and local law enforcement officials. It is also a part of ATF’s Frontline Strategy on reducing violent crime in communities.

It was also part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."

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