MAN CONVICTED FOR POSSESSION AND DISTRIBUTION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Monday, July 2, 2012
Florida Man Convicted in Child Pornography Case
WASHINGTON – James E. Price III, 42, of Plantation, Fla., was convicted on June 29, 2012, by a federal jury on one count each of distribution and possession of child pornography, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, announced today.

According to court documents and three days of testimony during the trial, the case originated from a South Florida Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) investigation into an individual suspected of possessing and trading child pornography using a peer to peer file sharing network.  The individual was later identified as Price.  A search warrant was executed on Price’s residence, where agents discovered a hard drive hidden behind boxes in the home.  Subsequent examination revealed that the hard drive was protected by encryption and contained hundreds of images and videos of child pornography.

Price faces a maximum term of 10 years in prison for the possession of child pornography charge and 15 years in prison for the distribution charge, a maximum fine of $250,000 on each count, and the possibility of lifetime supervised release.  Price is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 10, 2012, at 10:00 a.m before U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.  Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marc Anton and Mark Dispoto of the Southern District of Florida and by Trial Attorney Thomas Franzinger of CEOS in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.  The case was investigated by the South Florida ICAC, including the Martin County, Fla., Sherriff’s Office; the Broward County, Fla., Sherriff’s Office; and the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, with assistance from the CEOS High Technology Investigative Unit.

MAN GETS 300 MONTH PRISON TERM FOR HIS CHILD PORN BUSINESS

The following excerpt is from the Department of Justice website:
Friday, March 23, 2012
California Man Sentenced to 300 Months in Prison for Production and Possession of Child Pornography
WASHINGTON – Edward Lee Sullivan, of Oakland, Calif., was sentenced today to 300 months in prison for production and possession of child pornography, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag of the Northern District of California.

Sullivan, 39, was found guilty on Feb. 25, 2011, of one count of producing and one count of possessing child pornography after a 13-day bench trial before U.S. District Court Judge D. Lowell Jensen of the Northern District of California.

Evidence presented at trial showed that during a two-week period in March 2008, Sullivan trained a 14 year-old girl to work for him as a child prostitute.  During the course of those two weeks, Sullivan produced numerous photographs and videos of the minor, which documented the steps Sullivan took to prepare the girl to work as a prostitute and as an actress in pornographic movies.  According to trial evidence, Sullivan filmed at least one pornographic video of the minor, which depicted Sullivan instructing the minor as she performed oral sex on him.  At the time Sullivan committed these crimes, he was on parole following a 2002 state conviction for pimping and sexual conduct with a 14 year-old girl.
Sullivan also was sentenced today to lifetime supervised release following the completion of his prison term.
           
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew S. Huang and Maureen C. Bessette of the Northern District of California and Trial Attorney Alecia Riewerts Wolak of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section.  The investigation was conducted by the FBI; the Berkeley, Calif., Police Department; and the Oakland Police Department.

CALIFORNIA YOUTH COUNCILOR GET'S 29 YEARS FOR PRODUCING CHILD PORN

The following excerpt is form the Department of Justice website:

Thursday, March 1, 2012
California Youth Counselor Sentenced to 29 Years in Prison for Producing Child Pornography Defendant Also Ordered to Pay $234,000 in Restitution to Victim
WASHINGTON – Thomas Perez Jewell was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Oakland, Calif., to 29 years in prison and was ordered to pay $234,000 in restitution for producing child pornography, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag of the Northern District of California and Special Agent in Charge Stephanie Douglas of the FBI’s San Francisco Field Office.  
                                           
According to court documents, Jewell first came to the attention of law enforcement authorities when he was suspected of distributing and possessing child pornography.   A search of Jewell’s Pleasant Hill, Calif., apartment pursuant to a search warrant revealed evidence that Jewell had sexually molested two minor victims and photographed and videotaped his abuse.   A hard drive hidden under the mattress in Jewell’s bedroom contained thousands of images of the minor victims.   Prior to his arrest and conviction, Jewell was employed as a youth counselor and therapist in Contra Costa County, Calif.
Jewell, 54, was indicted by a federal grand jury on Dec. 9, 2010.   He was charged with production of child pornography, transportation of child pornography and possession of child pornography.   He pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography on Nov. 23, 2011.  
                                                                                   
Jewell was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton.   Judge Hamilton also sentenced the defendant to a lifetime of supervised release .   Jewell has been in custody since his arrest on Nov. 18, 2010.
                                                                                                       
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Hill of the Northern District of California and Trial Attorney Mi Yung Park of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.  This case was investigated by the FBI, the Pleasant Hill Police Department, the Martinez, Calif., Police Department and the Walnut Creek, Calif., Police Department.  
               
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.   Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as to identify and rescue victims.”  

DANISH MAN GETS 30 YEARS IN CHILD PORN CASE

The following excerpt is from the Department of Justice website:

"WASHINGTON – A Danish man was sentenced today in the Western District of Missouri to 30 years in prison for producing and transporting child pornography and for extortion against an 11-year-old Missouri girl, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Beth Phillips of the Western District of Missouri announced.
Kai Lundstroem Pedersen, 61, a citizen of Denmark, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays.  Pedersen pleaded guilty to the federal indictment on Sept. 6, 2011.

According to court documents, in July 2010, Pedersen engaged in a video web chat from his home in Denmark with an 11-year-old girl in Buchanan County, Mo., identified as Jane Doe #1.  Pedersen used a fake Facebook account to pose as a juvenile-aged male.  Pedersen admitted that he instructed the girl to engage in sexually explicit conduct that he recorded and saved as a digital video on his computer.  This video, as well as screen capture images from the video, were later edited and distributed to others, including family and friends of the victim.  Pedersen distributed the images and video over the Internet via file-sharing software.

Pedersen contacted Jane Doe #1 using various aliases through email and chat programs from July to September 2010 in an effort to convince her to engage again in sexually explicit conduct via video web chat.  Pedersen threatened to disseminate sexually explicit images of her over the Internet if she did not comply with his demands.  For example, on Aug. 15, 2010, Pedersen used nine different aliases on Facebook to contact Jane Doe #1, relaying rape and murder fantasies, asserting that various individuals had watched her video and describing the various sexual acts that these individuals wanted to perform on her.

According to court documents, in August 2010, Pedersen initiated contact with another minor female in rural Missouri, whom he believed to be a close friend of Jane Doe #1.  Pedersen contacted this victim, identified as Jane Doe #2, in an effort to exert pressure to have either Jane Doe #1 or Jane Doe #2 perform sexually explicit conduct for him via video web chat.

On Aug. 13, 2010, Jane Doe #1=s mother contacted law enforcement authorities.  The mother told an officer that she learned of the contact with Pedersen after receiving Facebook messages that contained nude images of her daughter.  A law enforcement officer, posing as a minor victim, communicated online with Pedersen and learned that he was traveling for vacation on Aug. 20, 2010.  When Pedersen logged into his Facebook account on Aug. 25, 2010, investigators were able to trace his Internet protocol address to a residence in Stonybrook, N.Y., where he was arrested on Sept. 3, 2010.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick D. Daly of the Western District of Missouri and Trial Attorney Keith Becker of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.  It was investigated by the Buchanan County, Mo., Sheriff=s Department; the Western Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force; the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); and CEOS."

BULLETIN BOARD WEB HOST GOES TO PRISON FOR CHILD PORN

The following excerpt is from the Department of Justice website:

 January 25, 2012
“WASHINGTON – The lead administrator and the web host of an online child pornography bulletin board were sentenced today to 120 and 97 months in prison, respectively, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge William Winter of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Baltimore; and Inspector in Charge Daniel S. Cortez of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) – Washington Division.

George Sell, 70, of Cumberland, Md., and Terry Lee Nolley, 47, of Silver Spring, Md., were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams Jr. in Greenbelt, Md. Sell and Nolley also were each ordered to serve lifetime terms of supervised release.

Sell and Nolley previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport child pornography. Nolley also pleaded guilty to destruction of records in a federal investigation.

According to court documents, from December 2006 through August 2008, Sell, Nolley and others conspired to operate “Country Lounge,” a secure web-based bulletin board dedicated to trading images of child pornography. Members could join this group only upon invitation and after approval by the group’s administrators, including Sell. To obtain access to “Country Lounge,” a member was required to have a username and password. Members were instructed by a specific set of rules and guidelines on how to post images via “Country Lounge” to avoid detection from law enforcement. As of August 2008, 142 members belonged to the bulletin board, which was hosted on computer servers in Virginia and Texas. In October 2008, “Country Lounge” was seized by law enforcement authorities.

From December 2006 through July 2008, Sell was the “root administrator” and day-to-day manager of Country Lounge, while Nolley agreed to host the bulletin board on computer servers maintained by him in Silver Spring.

According to court documents, Sell conspired with other individuals to take control of “Country Lounge” from its former owner and administrator, directed the creation and operation of a new “Country Lounge,” and received technical advice and assistance from co-conspirators to obtain his goal of creating and operating the new “Country Lounge.” Sell directed the daily management of “Country Lounge,” including direction over its layout and content, membership and the “rules” of the board. In addition to hosting the board, Nolley assisted Sell with the creation and maintenance of “Country Lounge.” After July 2008, Nolley transferred his web-hosting responsibilities to other co-conspirators, but continued as a “Country Lounge” member.

In November 2009, federal agents from ICE-HSI executed a search warrant on Sell’s residence and removed two computer hard drives. A forensic review of these items found them to contain multiple images of child pornography, many of which were obtained from “Country Lounge.”

In November 2009, federal agents interviewed Nolley and instructed him not to remove anything from his residence. Later that day, agents executed a search warrant at Nolley’s home and recovered several electronic devices. Nolley admitted that between the interview and the execution of the search warrant, he disposed of four additional hard drives believed to contain child pornography. Specifically, Nolley admitted that he left his home with the four hard drives, took steps to evade law enforcement and threw the hard drives into woods at the side of the road in an effort to impede the federal investigation.
                                             
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.”

CHILD PORN DISTRIBUTOR GETS 33 YEARS IN PRISON

The following excerpt is from the Department of Justice blog site:

Friday, January 13, 2012 

"A Maryland man pleaded guilty today in federal court in Indianapolis to seven counts of child pornography production and was sentenced to 33 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Hogsett of the Southern District of Indiana.

Trevor J. Shea, 21, of Mechanicsburg, Md., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge William T. Lawrence in the Southern District of Indiana.

During today’s plea and sentencing hearing, Shea admitted to using blackmail to coerce 10 minor girls between the ages of 13 and 16 years to produce images and videos of themselves engaging in sadistic and masochistic abuse and other sexually explicit conduct.

According to court documents, the case arose from an investigation by the Brownsburg, Ind., Police Department, which received a complaint in late September 2009 that Jane Doe 1, a 16-year-old girl, was being stalked via the internet. Jane Doe 1 and a family member reported that several months earlier, Jane Doe 1 and two other female minors visited an online webcam site where they exposed their breasts to unknown webcam viewers.  

           

Approximately one week later, Jane Doe 1 began receiving emails and instant messages from Shea, who threatened to post the nude images of Jane Doe 1 and her friends to the internet. Shea told Jane Doe 1 that if she produced more images and/or webcam videos for him, he would not post the photos for others to see. Jane Doe 1 complied with some of these demands, and produced images and videos of herself engaging in sexually explicit conduct. She then transmitted the images and videos to him.

Working with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), the Brownsburg Police Department traced the internet communications and a federal search warrant was obtained and executed at Shea’s Maryland home on March 4, 2010. Evidence was recovered during that search showing that numerous females around the country were victimized by Shea in a manner virtually identical to Jane Doe 1. Five of these other victims were identified as minor girls.  

On June 9, 2010, Shea was indicted on four counts of production of child pornography for his conduct against Jane Doe 1. Shea made an initial appearance on these charges and was released to his Maryland home on conditions, including home detention with electronic monitoring and a prohibition on his use of a computer or the Internet.

"In early November 2010, while Shea was on pretrial release, the Santa Rosa County, Fla., Sheriff’s Department interviewed “Jane Doe 2,” a 16-year-old girl. Jane Doe 2 reported that in 2009, an individual, later determined to be Shea, threatened her via the internet and coerced her to produce nude images. The search of Shea’s residence in March 2010 recovered images of Jane Doe 2 from Shea’s computer, but she had not yet been identified by law enforcement. Jane Doe 2 reported that in November 2010, she was contacted again by the individual, who threatened to disseminate the nude images that he previously had obtained from her, and demanded new nude images. In response to this threat, Jane Doe 2 made videos that depicted herself engaging in sexually explicit conduct and emailed them to Shea.   

Following Jane Doe 2’s report in November 2010, investigators determined that the email account to which Jane Doe 2 had been coerced to send the images and videos of herself was being accessed by an individual at Shea’s residence. Florida law enforcement coordinated with the Brownsburg Police Department and USPIS, and a federal search warrant was executed at Shea’s residence on Dec. 22, 2010.   Shea was arrested again that day, detained, and he has since remained in custody.

Investigators determined that in addition to Jane Doe 2, Shea similarly victimized three other minor girls in November and December 2010 while he was on pretrial release.   On Sept. 13, 2011, Shea was charged with three additional counts of production of child pornography for his conduct against these four minor girls.

           

The case against Shea was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney A. Brant Cook of the Southern District of Indiana and Trial Attorney Bonnie L. Kane of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.  

The case was investigated by the Brownsburg Police Department, USPIS, Indiana State Police, Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Department, and the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force .   Substantial assistance was provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section’s High Technology Investigative Unit, and Maryland State Police.   

           

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as to identify and rescue victims. "