|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
April 8, 2008
EMPORIA MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO CHILD PORN CHARGE
TOPEKA, KAN. – Kevin Patrick Thompson, 37, Emporia, pleaded guilty Monday to child pornography charges.
Thompson pleaded guilty to one count of receiving child pornography through the mail and Internet and one count of possessing child pornography. The crimes took place from April 12, 2001, through Feb. 3, 2006, in Emporia.
In his plea, Thompson admitted that on March 15, 2001, he ordered three child pornography video tapes from a Web site. The tapes were delivered to Thompson by a postal inspector on April 12, 2001.
In 2003, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents working on a child pornography investigation determined that Thompson had purchased access to half a dozen child pornography sites.
In January 2006, ICE agents determined that Thompson purchased memberships to another Web site that allowed him to download child pornography from the Internet.
On Feb. 3, 2007, investigators executed a search warrant at Thompson's residence. They seized a computer and other items. Examiners found hundreds of images of child pornography on the computer.
Sentencing is set for July 14, 2008. He faces a penalty of not less than 5 years and not more than 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on the charge of receiving child pornography, and a maximum penalty of 10 years and a fine up to $250,000 on the possession charge.
U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren commended Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Kenney for their work on the case, which was prosecuted under the Department of Justice's Operation Safe Childhood program. For more information, see www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
##