A federal judge has sentenced a former Water Oaker found with a massive stash of child pornography to nearly 20 years in prison.
Terry George Zimmerman, 73, was arrested in 2019 at the 55+community in Lady Lake where he was found with 2,400 images and more than 300 videos depicting young children being sexually abused. Lady Lake Police Department Detective Matthew Duryea, recently named the department’s officer of the year, played a key role in Zimmerman’s arrest.
Zimmerman in 2019 met an Idaho man on the website HouseBoys.com, which is a dating and chat site for homosexuals, according to an affidavit of probable cause. Within a month, Zimmerman offered the man the opportunity to come live with him in Water Oak at 202 Player Lane. Zimmerman became “controlling” and made “inappropriate comments about children.”
The Idaho man went to the Lady Lake Police Department and reported that Zimmerman had shown him pornographic images of children “obviously well under the age of 18.” A search warrant was executed at Zimmerman’s home, where two laptops, 19 flash drives and 12 cell phones were seized. There were numerous photos of naked boys wearing sailor hats and others of boys tied up in bondage.
A federal judge has sentenced Zimmerman to 19 years and seven months behind bars. He also has been ordered to pay restitution to the child victims in the amount of $21,000.
Zimmerman, who was later evicted from Water Oak, was convicted in 1995 in New York on charges of child pornography.