A social media influencer who gained a following sharing his picturesque Gulf Coast lifestyle with his wife online has been sentenced to five years behind bars for child pornography.
Georgia native Joshua David Stapleton, 39, received a 20-year sentence, with five years served in jail and another 15 years on probation after pleading guilty to 20 counts of sexual exploitation of children, according to court documents obtained by Fox 5 Atlanta.
Stapleton and his wife run the “Gulf Coast Stapletons” social media account, which has racked up more than 86,000 followers and over a million likes on TikTok and Instagram.
Investigators learned that between 2018 and 2020, Stapleton downloaded images of prepubescent children in sexually abusive situations.
He was initially charged with 15 counts of child porn possession, but was later indicted on 40 counts of sexual exploitation of children. He entered a non-negotiable plea deal in which he pleaded guilty to just 20 counts.
The “Gulf Coast Stapletons” lifestyle content features the couple working out, eating food and going on vacations.
Just last week they posted several videos from their trip to Orange Beach, Alabama.
Stapleton’s wife, Brittani Morris Stapleton, has been attempting to correct what she’s called “misinformation” online about her husband after news of his case spread.
The pair were married in 2023 after he’d been charged.
“Josh was absolutely up front with me about everything in the charges, there were no secrets,” she said in a recent TikTok post.
She also pushed back on accusations that the pair were projecting “fake lives” on their social media accounts.
“There’s nothing fake about it. It was our lives, we are still happy, he and I have no issues,” Brittani posted.
Stapleton is currently being held in the Bartow County Sheriff’s Office Jail.
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