Crimes against Children 8-24-12

Mankato, MN
The head football coach at Minnesota State, Mankato, was charged Wednesday with two counts related to child pornography after authorities said they found nude images of children on his cellphone.

Todd Hoffner, 46, of Eagle Lake, was charged with one count of using minors in a sexual performance or pornographic work, and one count of possessing child pornography. Both are felonies.

Police began investigating last week after a university official went to them with three videos of children that were said to be on Hoffner's work-issued cellphone, according to the complaint filed in the case.

Logansport, IN
A 34-year-old Logansport man has been jailed on charges of child molesting and dissemination of matter harmful to children, 24-Hour News 8’s news partner the Pharos-Tribune reports.

Jamie J. Hardy was arrested Monday on a Class A felony charge of child molesting and a Class D felony charge of dissemination of matter harmful to children. Tuesday evening, he remained in jail on a bond of $10,000 cash or $50,000 surety.

The incidents reportedly occurred with a girl under the age of 14 at a residence in Logansport over the course of a few months.

Indianapolis, IN
Joseph H. Hogsett, the United States Attorney, announced today that Dallas D. Mahaney, age 51, of Tell City, has been sentenced to 180 months (15 years) in federal prison by U.S. Chief District Judge Richard L. Young. This follows Mahaney’s admission of guilt to charges that he possessed and received sexually explicit material involving minor children.

Mahaney admitted that between February 14 and February 17, 2012, he knowingly possessed a substantial number of videos and images that depicted minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Mahaney also admitted to downloading sexually explicit images and videos from the Internet using his computer.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd S. Shellenbarger, who prosecuted the case for the government, Mahaney’s lengthy sentence was due in part to his 1995 conviction for child molestation. Mahaney was ordered to register as a sexual offender and will remain under law enforcement supervision for the rest of his life after he has served his prison term.

Newark, NJ
A Bergen County, New Jersey man who allegedly advertised, distributed, and collected images and videos of adults sexually exploiting infants and toddlers is expected in Newark federal court today to face an indictment charging numerous related offenses, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
The eight-count indictment unsealed this morning charges Edward M. De Sear, 65, of Saddle River, New Jersey, with three counts of advertising child pornography, four counts of distributing child pornography, and one count of possessing child pornography.

According to the indictment unsealed today and other documents filed in this case:
De Sear used an Internet-based peer-to-peer file sharing program to advertise, distribute, and download hundreds of images of child pornography. In seeking out “friends” on the peer-to-peer file sharing network, De Sear used a picture of a young boy to represent him as his avatar and invited individuals with usernames that contained terms such as “boy,” “child,” and “little” to join his peer-to-peer network.

De Sear named one of his file sharing folders “BoysCute” and made files with graphic, descriptive names available for sharing in his folders. He also allowed his “friends” to preview the content of his shared files in thumbnail view to select which files to download and used the peer-to-peer program’s chat function to make specific offers to distribute and display child pornography with descriptive titles.

De Sear regularly viewed and shared child pornography from the kitchen of his home, sometimes leaving his computer running overnight so that the child pornography files he had selected using the file sharing program could download while he slept.


Minneapolis, MN
U.S. Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that a Wagner, South Dakota man charged with abusive sexual contact was sentenced on August 20, 2012, by Chief U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier. Harold Dean Johnson, Jr., age 33, was sentenced to 71 months in custody, five years of supervised release, and a $100 assessment to the Victim Assistance Fund.

Johnson was indicted for aggravated sexual abuse and abusive sexual contact by a federal grand jury on October 4, 2011. In August 2011, Johnson engaged in sexual contact with a juvenile under the age of 12. He pled guilty to abusive sexual contact on June 6, 2012.

Philadelphia, PA
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today the indictment of Thomas A. O’Connor, age 44, of York, Pennsylvania. The indictment charges O’Connor with production, distribution, receipt, and possession of child pornography after agents allegedly found images depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct on computers in O’Connor’s home.

This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a U.S. Department of Justice nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Minneapolis, MN
Earlier today in federal court in St. Paul, a 50-year-old Minneapolis man pleaded guilty to distributing child pornography. Robert Andrew Gozola pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of child pornography. Gozola, who was indicted on May 8, 2012, entered his plea before United States District Court Judge Donovan W. Frank.

In his plea agreement, Gozola admitted that on November 23, 2011, he sent images of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct to an undercover police officer over a peer-to-peer file sharing program. In addition, Gozola admitted possessing more than 6,000 similar images on his computer, some of which included sadistic or masochistic content. The computer, on which Gozola had installed the peer-to-peer program, was seized during the execution of state search warrant at his residence on January 19, 2012. For his crime, Gozola faces a potential maximum penalty of 40 years in prison, with a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison. Judge Frank will determine his sentence at a future hearing, yet to be scheduled.

Distribution of child pornography is against the law. In addition to prosecuting these cases, the Justice Department is presently funding a study focused on the correlation between involvement in child pornography and hands-on sexual abuse of children. A 2008 study (The Butner Study) published in the “Journal of Family Violence” found that up to 80 percent of federal inmates incarcerated for possession, receipt, or distribution of child pornography also admitted to hands-on sexual abuse of children, ranging from touching to rape.

Trenton, NJ
A Somerset County, New Jersey man today admitted possessing child pornography on a laptop computer and DVDs at his residence, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

David W. Tuytjens, 56, of Bridgewater, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Michael A. Shipp in Trenton federal court to an information charging him with possession of child pornography.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
In April 2011, officers from the New Jersey State Parole Board examined Tuytjens’ laptop computer on a visit to his residence. The parole officers conducted the visit because Tuytjens was subject to community supervision for life for prior convictions for sexual assault. The officers determined that the laptop computer contained multiple images of child pornography, which appeared to have been downloaded from the Internet. Tutyjens admitted today that he stored pictures and videos of child pornography on this laptop computer as well as on DVDs recovered from his residence.

Albuquerque, NM
This morning in federal court, Pete Victor Reano, Jr., 47, a member and resident of Kewa Pueblo, pled guilty to an indictment charging him with abusive sexual contact under a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales said that, during today’s plea hearing, Reano admitted sexually assaulting a Kewa Pueblo girl who had not yet attained the age of 12. He also admitted that the assault took place at his Kewa Pueblo residence in spring of 2008. Specifically, Reano admitted touching the child by placing his hand on her genitals over her clothing.