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May 2, 2008
Ohio pediatrician pleads guilty to receiving child pornography
The guilty plea includes forfeiting interest in his house valued at $130,000
DAYTON, Ohio - A pediatrician from Troy, Ohio, pleaded guilty here Friday in U.S. District Court to one count of receiving child pornography, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Robert Reinhold, 55, entered the guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Rose. Punishment for receiving child pornography is as follows: at least five and up to 20 years imprisonment, supervised release from five years to life, and a fine of up to $250,000.
As part of his plea agreement, Reinhold agreed to forfeit to the United States his computer equipment and storage media, as well as his interest in his house. Federal law mandates forfeiture of both personal and real property used or intended to be used to commit or promote the commission of certain child-exploitation offenses, including receiving or possessing child pornography. Reinhold agreed to pay to the United States more than $130,000, which was the value of his interest in the house.
According to court documents filed with this plea and agreed to by Reinhold, between April 22, 2003, and Oct. 24, 2007, Reinhold knowingly received and possessed visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Those depictions had been illegally "mailed and transported in interstate and foreign commerce by any means," including by computer.
Reinhold admitted that he received and possessed the child pornography at his house by purchasing multiple subscriptions to commercial child pornography websites which offered members-only access to images of sexually explicit child pornography. He saved more than 600 images and movies on his home computer and on an external hard drive connected to it.
Reinhold also printed from his computer hundreds of the images, which he stored at his home. Among the child pornography found were images of prepubescent minors and minors under the age of 12 engaged in sexually explicit behavior.
ICE agents arrested Reinhold in October 2007 as part of Operation Predator, a nationwide ICE initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders and child sex traffickers.
Since Operation Predator was launched in July 2003, ICE agents have arrested more than 11,000 individuals, including more than 110 in Ohio.
"Investigators have determined that these are images of real children," Gregory Lockhart, U.S. Attorney, Southern District of Ohio said, "but at this time, none of the victims appear to be patients of his."
"It a tragedy when those who are supposed to protect children choose to sexually exploit them instead," said Brian M. Moskowitz, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Ohio and Michigan. "Fortunately, the combined aggressive efforts of ICE and the U.S. Attorney's office helped prevent Mr. Reinhold from further exploiting the child victims by illegally using and sharing their images."
ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. This hotline is staffed around the clock by investigators.
Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Laura Clemmens and Pamela Stanek, who are prosecuting the parallel civil forfeiture case of the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Ohio.
-- ICE --
