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Former Airman sentenced for distributing child pornography on the Web
Posted 12/3/2012 Updated 12/3/2012
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by OSI Public Affairs
12/3/2012 - QUANTICO, Va. -- Brig. Gen. Kevin J. Jacobsen, Air Force Office of Special Investigations commander, announced today the sentencing of former Air Force member Craig Allen James, 24, of Laurel, Md., to six years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, for distributing child pornography.
Additionally, U.S. District Judge George L. Russell III ordered that upon his release from prison, James must register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).
The sentence was jointly announced November 30 by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge William Winter of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations: and Col. Marcus L. Brown, Maryland State Police superintendent.
"This is a huge victory for everyone involved," Jacobsen said. "This was truly a team effort and I applaud all the men and women who worked to protect our most precious resource - our children. The distribution of child pornography is one of the most despicable cyber crimes we deal with, so it's vital we all work together to do everything we can to put an end to it."
According to James' plea agreement, until May 11, 2012, he was an active duty enlisted member of the U.S. Air Force assigned to Ft. Meade, Md., where he resided at the time. On May 3, 2011, Maryland State Police was conducting an undercover investigation to identify people possessing and sharing child pornography using file sharing programs that allow individuals to receive and make available to others, files on their computer.
During the investigation, an undercover officer identified James as using such a program and downloaded 23 files, images and videos, all of which depicted children, including prepubescent children, engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
On July 14, 2011, a search was executed at James' dormitory room on Ft. Meade, and on his computers and other digital media. OSI investigators discovered at least two of the files downloaded by the undercover officer on James' personal computer as well as other images of child pornography. James admitted that he received and shared child pornography via the Internet.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.
AFOSI conducted its portion of this investigation as part of Operation Predator, a nationwide HSI initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders and child sex traffickers.
HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE or by completing its online tip form http://www.ice.gov/tips/hich/af0/dbch/af37/loch/f0. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended HSI Baltimore, Air Force Office of Special Investigations, and the Maryland State Police for their work in the investigation. Rosenstein also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney P. Michael Cunningham, who prosecuted the case.
(Portions of this article were pulled from a Department of Justice press release.)
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