Crimes against Children 10-5-12

Toledo, OH
An indictment was filed charging Duane Hill with sex trafficking of children and obstructing the investigation of child sex trafficking, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

Count one charges that on or about August 8, 2012, Hill recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, obtained, and provided by any means, in and affecting interstate commerce, “A.W.,” knowing and in reckless disregard of the fact that A.W. had not attainted the age of 18 year and that A.W. would engage in a commercial sex act.

Count two charges that on or about September 6, 2012, Hill provided false and misleading information to investigators assigned to the Northwest Ohio Violent Crimes Against Children Task Force who were investigating the offense charged in count one.

Boston, MA
A Whitinsville lawyer, who is also a Boy Scout leader and part-time middle school teacher, was indicted today in federal court and charged with using the Internet to entice minors to engage in unlawful sexual conduct and possessing child pornography.

Andrew Jonathan Myers, 34, originally charged via complaint last month, was indicted today with four counts of using the Internet to entice, persuade, or induce a minor to engage in unlawful sexual conduct and one count of possessing child pornography.

The indictment alleges that between May 7 and 9, 2012, and on June 28, 2012, Myers sent graphic e-mails to three minors upon whom Myers proposed to perform sexual acts. The minors were known to Myers through his work as a teacher or Boy Scout leader.

Batavia, NY
U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Timothy Michael Logsdon, 29, of Batavia, New York, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with knowingly transporting a minor in interstate commerce with the intent to engage in sexual activity and traveling in interstate commerce for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Maura K. O’Donnell, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, on September 29, 2012, the parents of a 16-year-old female reported her missing to the Genesee County Sheriff’s Department. During an interview with special agents from the FBI, the victim’s parents indicated that she might be with the defendant.

Cleveland, OH
A Cleveland woman was sentenced to 11 years in prison today after previously pleading guilty to sex trafficking, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, and Stephen D. Anthony, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Cleveland Field Office.

Pearline Richardson, 41, was sentenced to 132 months in prison by U.S. District Judge David Dowd.

“I hope that everyone who sees this sentence will realize that these cases have nothing to do with ‘prostitution,’” Dettelbach said. “They are about commercialized rape, and the punishments are going to continue to reflect that reality. While this specific case took place in Cleveland, we know these cases are all around us, in cities and suburbs, houses and hotel rooms.”

Pittsburgh, PA
A resident of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of possession of material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.

Matthew Lawrence Gamret, 28, of 111 Kentmoor Drive in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to one count before Senior United States District Judge Gustave Diamond.

In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that on January 16, 2012, Gamret possessed visual depictions, namely, images and videos in computer graphics files, the production of which involved the use of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

Richmond, VA
Korey Jermaine Reynolds, 26, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was sentenced today to 130 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for transporting a 13-year-old girl from Charlotte to Richmond for purposes of prostitution. Reynolds will also be required to register as a sex offender.

“When Korey Reynolds saw a 13-year-old runaway living on the streets of Miami, he didn’t see a girl in need of help. Instead, he saw an opportunity to exploit her for profit,” said U.S. Attorney MacBride. “Reynolds is a college-educated man who made his living from the money this young girl and others made selling their bodies for sex. My office will continue our zero tolerance policy against all sex traffickers. Today’s sentencing sends a strong message that we will put away anyone who sexually exploits children in this district, even a single time.”

Kansas City, KS
A Kansas City, Kansas, man has been sentenced to 46 months in federal prison for taking a 17-year-old girl across state lines so she could work as a prostitute, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.

Otis Warren, 26, Kansas City, Kansas, pleaded guilty to one count of transportation of a minor for illegal sexual activity. In his plea, Warren admitted that in November 2010 he transported a girl identified as AR, who was 17 years old at the time, from Kansas City, Kansas, to Kansas City, Missouri, so she could work as a prostitute.

Investigators with the Prairie Village Police Department working undercover agreed to pay $250 an hour to have sex with the girl. Driving a blue Cadillac, Warren dropped off the girl at a house in Prairie Village. Police followed Warren when he drove away. They stopped him and arrested him. Investigators learned Warren kept the majority of the girl’s money while she worked for him.

Statesville, NC
An Iron Station man was sentenced on Monday, October 1, 2012, to serve 198 months in federal prison and a lifetime of supervised release for producing, transporting and possessing child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Anne M. Tompkins of the Western District of North Carolina.

In April 2011, a federal grand jury indicted Christopher Steven Johnson, 38, of Iron Station, North Carolina, on two counts of production of child pornography, three counts of transportation of child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography. According to the criminal indictment, the defendant did employ, use, persuade, induce, entice, and coerce a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct. Based on filed documents and information brought out in court proceedings, an investigation revealed that Johnson used multiple accounts, including “luvyounger74” and “yeahright9774,” on a peer-to-peer network to distribute and receive child pornography online. Agents with the FBI executed a search warrant at Johnson’s residence in March 2011. According to filed court records and related court hearings, Johnson possessed over 4,200 images and 126 videos of child pornography. Court records also show that while examining the evidence seized from Mr. Johnson’s residence, agents discovered that Johnson had surreptitiously recorded a minor without her knowledge on multiple occasions. On August 31, 2011, the defendant entered a plea of guilty to all the charges.

Houston, TX
Nicholas Martin Rogers has been sentenced to nearly 13 years in federal prison for distributing and possessing child pornography, United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today. Rogers, 29, of Houston, pleaded guilty to two counts of distributing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography on March 9, 2012.

This morning, U.S. District Judge David Hittner considered the number and types of images involved and whether Rogers poses a danger to the community and subsequently handed him a sentence of 151 months. Under the sentencing guidelines, Rogers was held responsible for 87,000 images. Hittner further ordered Rogers to serve 25 years of supervised release following his release from prison during which time Rogers will have to comply with a number of special conditions designed to protect the children and prohibit the use of the Internet. He will also be required to register as a sex offender.

At the time of his guilty plea, Rogers acknowledged he possessed more than 12,000 images and 1,000 videos on March 3, 2011. These images contained children under the age of 12 engaged in sexual acts with adults, bondage, and lewd and lascivious displays among other things.

Fairview Heights, IL
A Fairview Heights man, Andrew Gerald Millas, 43, pleaded guilty in federal court in East St. Louis on October 2, 2012, to three counts of production of child pornography and one count of transportation of child pornography, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today. Production of child pornography carries a term of at least 15 years and up to 30 years’ imprisonment, and transportation of child pornography is punishable by a term of imprisonment of five to 20 years. Both offenses carry a fine of up to $250,000, and a supervised release term of five years to life.

A factual stipulation filed with the court at the time of the guilty plea revealed that, in December, 2011, detectives of the Boise, Idaho Police Department engaged Millas in online chats after they became concerned with his postings on a website that offered child pornography for distribution.

Millas sent the undercover officers still images of child pornography he had manufactured and also broadcast a live sex act with a minor to them via a webcam. The Boise Police Department quickly forwarded the investigative lead to the Fairview Heights Police Department, and Millas was promptly arrested. Forensic analysis of computer equipment seized from Millas by the FBI revealed voluminous digital evidence to be examined, including 14,560 multimedia files, over 900,000 image files, and 21,232 recovered image files depicting screen shots captured by a keystroke logger program. Among the files recovered were movies depicting Millas having sexual relations with a 16-year-old child and other movies that Millas made through surreptitious filming that depicted other minors engaging in sexual conduct.