April 17, 2009

Florida man sentenced to 6 years in prison for child pornography

TAMPA, Fla. - A 64-year-old New Port Richey man was sentenced Thursday for receipt of child pornography following a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigation.

Walter With was sentenced to 72 months in federal prison followed by a life term of supervised release after pleading guilty on Jan. 22, 2009 to one count of receipt of child pornography.

During the execution of a search warrant at With's home on Jan. 22, 2008, ICE agents discovered that With had subscribed to websites featuring child pornography and was in possession of numerous images of child pornography on his computer.

"It's always great news when someone that could potentially prey on the children in your community is now in prison because of our agents' and our law enforcement partners' hard work," said Sue McCormick, special agent in charge of the ICE Tampa Office of Investigations. "People who do this, are essentially just as bad as someone who is out there harming children because they are contributing to and supporting this illegal and filthy activity."

With's arrest 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 http://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.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jay L. Hoffer.

-- ICE --

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

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