Crimes against Children 8-15-12

Omaha, NE
United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg announced that Matthew McCann, 24, was sentenced in federal court for distributing child pornography. The Honorable Laurie Smith Camp sentenced McCann to an 80-month term of imprisonment. After his release from prison, McCann must serve a 10-year term of supervised release. McCann was also ordered to pay $2,500 in restitution to one of the victims depicted in his collection of child pornography.

On May 9, 2011, members of the FBI Omaha Cyber Crimes Task Force served a search warrant on a residence where McCann was staying. McCann admitted to downloading child pornography daily for an extended period. He stated that he frequently deleted images and stated a preference for 10-year-olds and older. More than 60 videos of child pornography with a substantial amount involving prepubescent minors engaged in sexual acts were found on McCann’s computer. The FBI laboratory was able to recover encrypted texts from McCann’s cell phone, wherein he engaged in sexually explicit texts with a 13-year-old girl.

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 Attorney’s 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.

Rockford, IL
A McHenry County sheriff's sergeant suspected of producing child pornography and distributing it over the Internet has been arrested on federal charges.

The (Crystal Lake) Northwest Herald reported that Gregory M. Pyle was arrested Tuesday and is being held without bond until a detention hearing Friday.

Authorities said Pyle was arrested in February after he took a 10-year-old to Wisconsin in 2008 to sexually abuse the boy and produce child pornography, which he allegedly transmitted through the Internet.

The 36-year-old Pyle faces 10 counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child in McHenry County.

He is charged in federal court with aggravated sexual abuse of a child and producing child pornography by sexual exploitation of a child.

Orlando, FL

A 38-year-old man and former Epcot employee and school resource officer was arrested on Tuesday as a result of an online sting targeting child pornography, the Osceola County Sheriff's Office said.

Officials said undercover Polk County deputies identified Robert Kevin Britt as a suspect in online child porn trafficking. Deputies in Osceola were contacted because Britt lives in Osceola County.

Detectives raided Britt's home, a sheriff's spokeswoman said, and discovered at least 10 images of child porn. Britt was arrested on 10 counts of possession of child pornography.

Detectives say Britt used to work for the Pensacola Police Department as a school-resource officer.

Columbia, SC
United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated today that Sidney L. Myers, age 21, of Eastover, pled guilty in federal court to willfully making a threat to damage buildings by means of explosive, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 844(e); and possession of child pornography, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252A. United States District Judge Joseph F. Anderson, Jr., of Columbia accepted the plea and will impose a sentence after the pre-sentence report has been prepared.

Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that Myers placed two phone calls to Eau Claire High School in Columbia on the morning of November 2, 2011. He claimed to have put six bombs around the school. Subsequent investigation into phone records linked the threats to Myers’ number. When confronted, Myers eventually confessed to placing the calls.

During the bomb threat investigation, FBI agents analyzed Myers’ phone and found that it contained five videos of him engaging in sexual activity with his girlfriend, who was 16 years old. Because the phone had traveled in interstate commerce, this constituted a federal child pornography offense.