Crimes against Children 8-6-12

Galveston, TX
A nine-year-old boy is in foster care after police found evidence that he may have been confined to a box by his parents -- and that's not all.

Two weeks ago, the boy disappeared from his house. Police and neighbors searched for three hours before locating him.


The boy told police that he had run away from home and the reasons he gave compelled investigators to dig deeper.

Galveston Police declined to comment but a CPS spokesperson said the boy complained that he was confined to a plywood box at home.

The Galveston Daily News reports that police searched the boy’s house for evidence of child pornography and accused the boy’s father of using a cell phone to take a naked picture of his son, according to an affidavit filed by CPS.

Rochester, NY
U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Anthony Davis, 43, of Rochester, New York, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with production of child pornography and possession of child pornography. The charges carry a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison, a maximum penalty of 30 years, a $500,000 fine or both.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany H. Lee, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, in July 2012, city of Rochester Police received a report from a cooperating witness who found a sexually explicit video of a 7-year-old minor on a smartphone belonging to Davis. The complaint alleges that the witness was able to identify the minor victim and Davis’s voice from the video. Rochester police executed a search warrant and seized the defendant’s telephones. Hundreds of suspected images of child pornography were found on two telephones that were seized, including the video of the 7-year-old minor that Davis allegedly produced. The defendant is currently facing state charges, including sexual abuse, in Monroe County.

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 (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.

Jacksonville, FL
United States District Judge Timothy J. Corrigan today sentenced Alfredo Roberto Townsend (48, Columbus, Georgia) to 90 months in federal prison and a 15-year term of supervised release for receiving child pornography over the Internet. Townsend was also ordered to register as a sex offender and forfeit his computer media. Townsend pleaded guilty to this charge on February 23, 2012, and has been in custody since his arrest on May 3, 2011.

According to court documents, in February 2011, an undercover officer with the Florida Attorney General’s Office connected to the Internet to identify individuals using a particular computer network to share files containing child pornography. For several weeks during February and March 2011, the undercover officer was able to track a computer that was sharing files containing child pornography. The computer belonged to Alfredo Roberto Townsend. During this period, the computer was using different Internet connections at several locations, including Townsend’s permanent residence in Columbus, Georgia; his residence in an apartment complex in Jacksonville, Florida; and a temporary housing unit on Robins Air Force Base in Georgia.

According to court documents, on May 3, 2011, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Townsend’s apartment residence on Kernan Boulevard in Jacksonville. During an interview, Townsend indicated that he traveled to Georgia about every two weeks and admitted to using other unsecured wireless networks. Townsend admitted that he started downloading child pornography out of “sick curiosity” and that he had been downloading child pornography prior to the middle of 2009. He stated that there were images of children as young as 1 year old and up to 15 years old on his computer and admitted that he primarily looks at prepubescent children. A search of Townsend’s laptop computer revealed that it contained 27 images and 245 videos of child pornography, all downloaded during the period from August 27, 2009 to May 3, 2011.

Rochester, NY
U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Marques Williams, 26, of Rochester, New York, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with sex trafficking of a minor. The charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison, a maximum penalty of life, and a fine of $250,000.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany H. Lee, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, the FBI received information that the defendant advertised a 15-year-old female as a prostitute on the Internet classified advertising service, Backpage.com. The minor victim was interviewed by the FBI and said that, between July 2011 and September 2011, she worked as a prostitute for Williams. According to the victim, the defendant taught the girl how to engage in prostitution activities and set the prices for her prostitution activities. The minor further stated that Williams took her to the East Avenue Inn in Rochester for prostitution purposes and paid for the room since she was underage. The victim also told the FBI that Williams took pictures of her for the Backpage.com advertisements.

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 (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.

 Albuquerque, NM
 This morning in federal court, Wilson Harry, Jr., 55, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Kirtland, New Mexico, 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, Harry admitted sexually assaulting a 13-year-old Navajo girl in a residence in Shiprock, New Mexico, during the summer of 2009. Specifically, Harry admitted fondling the child by placing his hand on her genitals under her clothing.