Crimes against Children 9-17-12

Indianapolis, IN
United States Attorney Joseph Hogsett today announced formal charges against a New Albany man for distribution and possession of child pornography. Patrick Logan Durrett, 24, was charged in an information filed in federal court.

As alleged by the government, in February, 2012, Durrett was making child pornography available for other users to download via the Internet using a peer-to-peer (P2P) networking file-sharing program. Undercover FBI agents made contact with Durrett, and the undercover agents were able to download at least 46 computer files depicting children engaged in sexually explicit activity from Durrett. The files distributed to the undercover agents included videos and images of explicit sexual abuse of children as young as four months old. Several of the images and videos depicted the sexual abuse of infant girls, including one image depicting bondage of a baby girl.

Albuquerque, NM
Yesterday, the FBI arrested Johncarlos Ortiz, 39, on a criminal complaint alleging child pornography charges, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth J. Gonzales. Ortiz, a resident but not a member of Pojoaque Pueblo, New Mexico, made his initial appearance in federal court in Albuquerque this morning. During today’s proceedings, Ortiz entered a not guilty plea and waived his right to a preliminary hearing. He was ordered detained pending trial.

The complaint alleges that Ortiz possessed and distributed child pornography on Sept. 11, 2012, at his residence in Pojoaque Pueblo. According to the complaint, the investigation of the case was initiated in July 2012, after the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) received information that images consistent with child pornography had been posted on a social networking site. The NCMEC sent the tip to the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office (NMAGO). In early August 2012, after determining that the images were posted using an e-mail account subscribed to Ortiz, the NMAGO and the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force contacted the FBI. The complaint alleges that, on September 11, 2012, the FBI executed a federal search warrant at Ortiz’s residence and seized a computer and a computer flash drive that allegedly contain images consistent with child pornography.

Alexandria, VA
Justin Strom, aka “Jae,” “Jae Dee,” or “J-Dirt,” 27, of Lorton, Virginia, was sentenced today to serve 40 years in prison for leading a gang-controlled prostitution business that recruited and trafficked high school girls over a five- to six-year period. One of Strom’s associates, Henock Ghile, 23, of Springfield, Virginia, also was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for serving as a driver in the sex trafficking enterprise. In total, five gang members or associates have been convicted of sex trafficking juveniles in connection with this case.

Washington, DC
Lonnie Newhouse, 47, of Beckley, West Virginia, was sentenced today to 16 years and eight months in prison on a charge of distribution of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr.; James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; and Cathy L. Lanier, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

Newhouse pled guilty to the charge in May 2012 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He was sentenced by the Honorable Beryl A. Howell. Upon completion of his prison term, Newhouse will be placed on 10 years of supervised release. He also will be required at that time to register as a sex offender for 25 years.

According to a factual proffer of evidence presented during the plea hearing, on September 6, 2011, an MPD member of the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, who was operating undercover and posing as a pedophile as part of the investigation, communicated with Newhouse by instant messenger and telephone. During the course of the communications over the next several weeks, Newhouse sent the undercover officer 11 images and one video of child pornography. Newhouse was arrested on October 13, 2011.

Atlanta, GA
Two men appeared in federal court today in two recently indicted sex trafficking cases in which five men are charged with pimping three 14-year-old and one 16-year-old girls in Atlanta hotels. Two federal indictments, both returned on August 28, 2012, charge members of a gang that called itself Da M.O.B., with raping the girls and forcing them to perform commercial sex acts—in one case, allegedly beating the girl on a daily basis. The two cases are separated based on different victims and different members of the gang who are alleged to have participated in the sex trafficking offenses.

Fabian Terran Murray, also known as “Shooter,” age 25, of Smyrna, Georgia, is charged in both indictments. The first indictment also charges Joshua Thomas Hill, also known as “Cash,” age 24, of Atlanta, Georgia; and Clinton Saintvil, 24, of Miami, Florida, while the second indictment also charges Richard Douglas King, also known as “Ready,” age 25, of Atlanta, Georgia; and Jonathan Christopher Branch, 21, of Atlanta, Georgia. The two indictments charge the defendants with conspiring to engage in sex trafficking of minors and sex trafficking of minors. Murray and King also are charged with using a firearm during the commission of sex trafficking of a minor, and Hill is also charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Minneapolis, MN
U.S. Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that a Lower Brule man charged with sexual abuse of a minor was sentenced on September 11, 2012, by U.S. District Judge Roberto A. Lange. Sean Johnson, age 22, was sentenced to 15 months in custody, five years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.

Johnson was indicted by a federal grand jury in April 2012 on three counts of sexual abuse of a minor. He pled guilty to one count in June 2012.

The conviction stems from the time frame of December 2011 to February 2012, when Johnson and the minor victim met and began communicating via text messages. In February 2012, Johnson admitted to having sex with the minor victim three separate times.