Free Republic

Terrence Berg, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, announced that Matthew Mercer-Kinser, 23, of Oxford, Michigan, was sentenced yesterday in Federal District Court following his February 2009 guilty plea to charges of transportation of child pornography in interstate commerce. Mr. Berg was joined in the announcement by Andrew G. Arena, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Detroit Field Division. Mercer-Kinser was sentenced by the Honorable Robert H. Cleland to 151 months in federal prison, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. According to court records, Mercer-Kinser amassed a collection of thousands...

MEMPHIS, TN—A federal grand jury returned two indictments charging two individuals with violations of federal criminal law involving the distribution, receipt possession, and production of child pornography announced Lawrence J. Laurenzi, United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee. The indictments resulted from investigations conducted by member agencies of the FBI Memphis Crimes Against Children Task Force. The individuals charged in the indictments are as follows: BRIAN D. McMACKIN, 27 year old, Milan, Tennessee resident: Indictment charging violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2251(a) [Production of Child Pornography]; Section 2252(a)(1) [Distribution of Child Pornography]; Section 2252(a)(2) [Receipt...

LEXINGTON, KY—A Scott County emergency management captain was arrested today pursuant to a federal criminal complaint that charges him with possessing images of child pornography. According to an affidavit submitted by a detective from the Georgetown Police Department, Eric Dwayne Westerfield, 35, from Georgetown, Ky. admitted he used the file sharing program LimeWire to download images of child pornography. The affidavit alleges that a DVD seized by authorities from Westerfield’s residence in March contained approximately eight images of children as young as 10 years old engaged in sexually explicit conduct. In addition, a Kentucky State Police (KSP) detective conducted a...

United States Attorney Julia C. Dudley announced today that Adam Stewart Young, age 34, of Raven, Virginia, appeared in court last week after being indicted by a federal Grand Jury sitting in Abingdon, Virginia on May 20, 2009. Young was charged in a one-count indictment with enticing and coercing a minor to engage in a sexually explicit act for the purpose of producing child pornography. These charges arose out of an investigation begun in May 2008. A jury trial has scheduled for July 20, 2009 in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon. If...

GREENEVILLE, TN—Joseph Wayne Jennings, 53, of New Tazewell, Tennessee, was arrested on Wednesday, June 10, 2009, at the Holiday Inn located at 5435 Davy Crockett Parkway in Morristown, Tennessee. Jennings, an educator who is retired from the Claiborne County Board of Education, was a principal at Clairfield Elementary School and a teacher at the Renaissance School. After his retirement, he worked as a teacher for the Cherokee-Douglas Economic Authority and worked part-time for Toys R Us during the Christmas 2008 season. In a four-count complaint presented by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent Sandra Farrow, Jennings is charged with...

HOUSTON—William Arthur Doyle, III, 56, from Round Rock, Texas, has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for producing child pornography, United States Attorney Tim Johnson announced today. U.S. District Judge Lynn N. Hughes imposed the prison term today in addition to 10 years for a distribution of child pornography conviction and attempting to entice a minor to engage in a sexual conduct by using a computer. The sentences are to be served concurrently for a total of 180 months. Doyle will also be placed on a lifetime term of supervised release during which he must register as a...

PLANO, TX—U.S. Attorney John M. Bales announced today that a 37-year-old Mount Vernon, Texas man has been sentenced to federal prison for child pornography violations in the Eastern District of Texas. ROBERT PETERSEN pleaded guilty on Jan. 5, 2009, to using a computer to obtain and possess child pornography and was sentenced on June 9th to 120 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Richard Schell. According to information presented in court, in 2007, Petersen distributed, received and possessed several video clips and visual depictions of child pornography using his Internet account. Petersen admitted to possessing at least six...

Andrew T. Baxter, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York, and John F. Pikus, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Albany Division, announced today that DAVID DIMEO, age 35, of Rotterdam, New York, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy in Federal Court in Albany on his guilty plea to a one count Information charging him with the distribution of child pornography. DIMEO was sentenced to 87 months and ordered to serve a 15 year term of supervised release. He also was ordered to (1) have no unsupervised contact with minors; (2)...

Greenbelt, MD—Jonathan Clark, age 30, of Greenbelt, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to receiving child pornography, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. According to his plea agreement, Clark responded to a U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s undercover on-line operation in March of 2007, requesting a custom made movie of children having sex. Clark sent two emails detailing how two “girls,” ages eight and 11, were to be sexually assaulted for his movie. Clark also ordered a pre-made movie in which a seven year old girl was raped. Clark mailed his payment. While awaiting his requested videos,...

GREENBELT, MD—U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams, Jr. sentenced Christopher Michael Holland, age 32, of Leonardtown, Maryland, today to 15 years in prison, followed by supervised release for life, for sexually exploiting a minor to produce child pornography, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. According to his plea agreement, on April 30, 2008 FBI agents found an image from Holland’s laptop computer that had been seized from his residence under a search warrant, depicting Holland engaged in sexually explicit conduct with a prepubescent female. The image was a picture taken by the laptop’s camera. Law...

Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced today the arrest of MARIO MESCHINO, age 41, of 24950 Madison in Plainfield, Illinois. MESCHINO was arrested yesterday morning at his residence, without incident, by Special Agents assigned to the Chicago FBI's Innocent Images Task Force (IITF). MESCHINO, who is employed by the First Student Transportation Company in Plainfield as a school bus driver, was charged in a criminal complaint filed yesterday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Chicago with one count of Distribution of Child Pornography, which is a felony offense. According...

United States Attorney Marty J. Jackley announced that a man charged with distribution of child pornography was sentenced on May 20, 2009, by US District Court Chief Judge Karen E. Schreier. Ryan Murphey, age 33, of Rapid City, was sentenced to 12 ½ years’ imprisonment, twenty years’ supervised release, and ordered to pay a special assessment of $100 to the Victim's Assistance Fund. Murphey was indicted by a federal grand jury on July 23, 2008. On February 27, 2009, he pled guilty to possessing thousands of images minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct (child porn) on his home computer. This...

On Monday, May 18, 2009, Mark David Keller, age 48, was arrested in La Mesa, California. Keller was arrested pursuant to a federal arrest warrant charging Keller with possession and transportation of child pornography. Keller was arrested at approximately 2:00 p.m. in the vicinity of 5500 Grossmont Center Drive. Keller was arrested by U.S. Marshal’s Deputies without incident. Investigation in this matter by the FBI’s Portland Field Office, determined between January of 1999 and September 2002, Mark David Keller was known to frequent areas of Portland, Oregon where homeless children were known to frequent. Keller allegedly would befriend young homeless...

PORTLAND, OR—A Newberg golf instructor and amateur photographer has been charged with a variety of federal child pornography offenses. Rodney Mead Pelling, 68, was arraigned this afternoon in U.S. District Court in Eugene on an indictment charging him with five counts of producing child pornography, four counts of receiving child pornography, and one count of possessing child pornography. He entered pleas of not guilty to each count, and was detained pending trial by U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Coffin. Trial is set for July 21, 2009 before U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken. Each of the charges in the indictment is a...

VICTORIA, TX—Roselio Garcia, 54, of Port Lavaca, Texas, has been convicted of receiving and possessing child pornography, acting United States Attorney Tim Johnson announced today. At a hearing late yesterday, May 18, 2009, before United States District Court Judge John R. Rainey, Garcia pleaded guilty and admitted that on April 10, 2008 he possessed 49 pornographic images of known victims of child pornography as identified by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), 411 images of unknown victims of child pornography and five videos containing child pornography. Garcia also admitted to receiving an image of child pornography over...

DES MOINES—On May 18, 2009, Kent Merril Adamson, age 46, of Creston, Iowa, was sentenced to a term of 80 months' imprisonment for transmitting obscene material to a minor, announced United States Attorney Matthew G. Whitaker. United States District Court Judge James E. Gritzner also ordered Adamson to serve a five year term of supervised release upon his release from prison and pay an assessment of $700 to the Crime Victim Fund. On October 29, 2008, Adamson pled guilty to seven counts of transmitting obscene material to a minor. The case arose out of an FBI undercover investigation conducted from...

Madison, WI—Erik C. Peterson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Jason M. Pape, 37, of New Richmond, Wis., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Barbara B. Crabb to 90 months in prison, without parole, for possessing child pornography. Following his release from prison, Pape will be on supervised release for the rest of his life. Pape pleaded guilty to the charge on March 6, 2009. On May 15, 2008, police officers from the New Richmond Police Department and Polk County Sheriff’s Department executed search warrants at Pape’s home in New Richmond and a residence...

Roger Lowe, 50, of Indianapolis, was sentenced today to five years in prison for receiving child pornography, Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Lanny A. Breuer and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana Timothy Morrison announced. Lowe pleaded guilty on May 8, 2009, in federal court in Indianapolis to one count of receipt of child pornography. In entering that plea, Lowe admitted that he downloaded images of children engaged in various sexual acts and participated in an e-mail group where he received videos of child pornography. This case arose from “Operation Brick Wall,” an FBI investigation that...

LEV L. DASSIN, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that HAROLD LEE CHANG YEN, 37, was sentenced today in Manhattan federal court to five years in prison and lifetime supervised release for receiving and distributing child pornography. The sentence was imposed by United States District Judge NAOMI REICE BUCHWALD. YEN, of the Bronx, was arrested on January 11, 2007, by special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"), and has remained detained since his arrest. According to the charges, court papers, and statements made by YEN during his guilty plea to Count...

NEWARK, NJ—Special Agent In Charge Weysan Dun announced the arrest of Thomas M. Elgert, age 66, of 71 Parkview Drive, Hillsdale, New Jersey, on two counts of attempted sexual exploitation of children (production of child pornography) and four counts of distribution of child pornography. Elgert is a self-employed consultant for an engineering company. According to the criminal complaint, this case began in Helena, Montana in early March of this year when an online undercover FBI agent assumed the identity of a known child pornographer already in custody. The agent, in the undercover role, was contacted by Elgert who requested pictures...