New Palestine, IN
Joseph H. Hogsett, the United States Attorney, announced today that
Justin Cole, age 23, of
New Palestine, has been charged by criminal
complaint with distributing
child pornography as part of the U.S.
Attorney’s ongoing
Project Safe Childhood initiative.
“The mission of our
Project Safe Childhood initiative is to
investigate and prosecute anyone found to engaged in the
sexual
exploitation of
children,” Hogsett said. “Today’s announcement
underscores this serious commitment and should make clear that if you
engage in such behavior, you will be found and brought to justice.”
According to the criminal complaint, federal and state
law
enforcement in Indiana first became involved in this case in July 2012
after an individual in Texas was charged with trading
images of
child
pornography online. An extensive search for other individuals involved
in those alleged criminal acts led
law enforcement to an
e-mail address
that was traced to Cole’s residence in
New Palestine.
Based on that information, a
search warrant was obtained on September
13, 2012, and was subsequently executed by
law enforcement officers
from the
Indiana State Police and the
FBI Cyber Crime Task Force. A
forensic review allegedly revealed thousands of
images depicting
minors
engaged in
sexually explicit conduct that were stored on a
laptop
computer, as well as hundreds of
videos. The complaint also alleges that
materials were located on a
desktop computer in the home.
This case was brought as part of the U.S. Attorney’s
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
on
Project Safe Childhood, visit
www.projectsafechildhood.gov
