United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut
Press Release

Project Safe Childhood: FORMER GROTON RESIDENT SENTENCED TO FEDERAL PRISON FOR POSSESSING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

Nora R. Dannehy, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that CHRISTOPHER ALLEN HOUSE, 25, of Golden, Colorado, formerly of Groton, Connecticut, was sentenced today by Chief United States District Judge Robert N. Chatigny in Hartford to 12 months and one day of imprisonment, followed by 10 years of supervised release, for possessing child pornography.  HOUSE pleaded guilty to the offense on February 3, 2009.

According to documents filed with the Court and statements made in Court, HOUSE formerly was a member of the United States Navy assigned to the submarine base in Groton.  On July 18, 2006, Naval Criminal Investigation Service agents searched HOUSE’s barracks quarters and seized a desktop computer.  Analysis of the computer’s hard drive revealed the existence of more than 10 and fewer than 150 images of child pornography, including images of children under the age of 12 engaged in sexual conduct.  When questioned by agents, HOUSE admitted that he downloaded these images from the internet.

Upon his release from prison, HOUSE will be required to register as a sex offender.  As a special condition of his 10-year period of supervised release, the United States Probation Office is authorized to monitor HOUSE’s computer use and conduct searches of his residence without a warrant.  Also, HOUSE may not have any unsupervised contact with children under the age of 18.

This investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Naval Criminal Investigation Service.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Peter S. Jongbloed.

Acting U.S. Attorney Dannehy noted that this prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse.  Led by the United States Attorneys Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.

CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov