News Releases

Baltimore man sentenced to 14 years in prison for distributing child pornography on the Internet
Pornography collection included 5,000 photos and six movies of minors as young as one-year-old

BALTIMORE - An investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents resulted in a 46-year-old Baltimore man being sentenced today to 14 years in prison followed by supervised release for life for distributing child pornography by computer.

Charles Christopher Furth was sentenced in U.S. District Court before Judge William D. Quarles, Jr. who also ordered that Furth cannot have access to computers or the Internet without preapproval by his probation officer.

ICE agents, working with an undercover U.S. Postal Inspector, searched his residence and recovered copies of videos he had e-mailed to undercover agents, along with numerous other child pornography pictures and movies. Furth stated that he had about 5,000 still images of child pornography and six movies of minors from ages one-year-old. In his guilty plea, Furth also stated that he in turn asked the undercover inspector to mail him a videotape of child pornography. He mailed a check with his name and address to the inspector to cover shipping costs.

The Furth case 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. Since the initiative was launched in July 2003, there have been more than 11,000 individuals arrested nationwide, including more than 175 in Maryland.

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 also be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.