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February 9, 2009
South Carolina man sentenced to six years in prison for possession of child pornography.
RALEIGH, S.C. - A 64-year-old man was sentenced here today to six and a half years in prison and five years of supervised released following a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) investigation into his receipt of child sexual exploitation images.
Ralph Joseph Clos, of New Bern, N.C., was charged with one count of receipt of child pornography on criminal information filed on Aug. 15, 2008. On Sep. 9, 2008, Clos pleaded guilty to the charge.
In June, 2006, ICE received information that Clos had downloaded child pornography from a website being monitored by ICE investigators in New Jersey. On June 31, 2006, ICE agents executed a search warrant at Clos's residence that later revealed 200 digital images of child pornography. The images included prepubescent children in sexual acts and sadomasochistic abuse.
Assistant United States Attorney Ethan Ontjes served as prosecutor for the government.
The arrest of Clos was part of Operation Predator, a comprehensive ICE initiative aimed at those who prey on children, including human traffickers, international sex tourists, Internet pornographers, and foreign national predators whose crimes make them deportable.
Additional information about Operation Predator is available on the Web at www.ice.gov. ICE encourages the reporting of 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.
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