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October 15, 2007
Louisville man pleads guilty to child pornography charges
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A Louisville man pleaded guilty in federal court here last week to charges of transporting, receiving and possessing numerous images of child pornography. This guilty plea resulted from a criminal investigation conducted by special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
James McIntire, 25, of 222 South Peterson Ave., pleaded guilty in the Western District of Kentucky before U.S. District Judge Charles R. Simpson III to charges of transporting, receiving and possessing child pornography.
McIntire admitted that on Dec. 26, 2006, he transported illegal images of child pornography via the Internet. He further admitted that between November 2006 and May 2007, he received and possessed images on his computer of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
According to court documents, on Dec. 26, 2006, a detective with Canada's Ottowa Police Services' High Tech Crimes Unit performed an undercover Google Group search for child pornography images. The detective found a public Google Chat Group named "evie-model" and observed a posting titled "bj." Upon opening the posting, the detective observed that McIntire had posted nine images depicting child pornography, including graphic images of girls aged 5 to 8 years old performing sexual acts on adult males.
On May 15, 2007, ICE agents executed a federal search warrant at McIntire's apartment and seized his computer. During an interview with ICE agents, McIntire claimed to have no knowledge of the screen name or email account. McIntire admitted that he had a problem with pornography, but denied viewing, receiving or sending child pornography. A forensic analysis of McIntire's computer revealed numerous other child pornographic images depicting young boys and girls posed in a manner to expose their genitals.
On June 6, 2007, ICE agents conducted a follow-up interview at McIntire's residence. McIntire admitted that on Dec. 26, 2006, he visited the Google Group, "Evie Model," and posted nine child pornography images of young girls performing oral sex on adult males. Additionally, McIntire admitted sending and receiving child pornography images via email and through Google and Yahoo groups. These images depicted children ages 5 to 13 years old posed in a manner to expose their genitals or engaged in explicit sexual acts, usually oral sex, with an adult.
The maximum potential penalties on these charges are not more than 50 years imprisonment, a $750,000 fine, and supervised release for a period of any term up to life; the minimum potential penalties are not less than five years imprisonment.
"ICE will not tolerate child sexual exploitation," said Elissa A. Brown, special agent-in-charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Chicago. "We will continue to use all our resources to identify child predators who use the Internet to sexually exploit innocent children. It's one of ICE's primary missions to protect children from sexual abuse."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Madison T. Sewell, Western District of Kentucky, prosecuted this case.
This investigation into McIntire is part of Operation Predator, a national ICE initiative that protects children by investigating and presenting for prosecution pedophiles, Internet predators, human traffickers, international sex tourists, and other predatory criminals. Since Operation Predator was launched in July 2003, ICE agents have arrested more than 10,000 child predators and sex offenders nationwide.
ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. Investigators staff this hotline around the clock.
Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.
-- ICE --
