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Press Release

Montgomery County Man Sentenced To 10 Years For Possessing Child Pornography

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania

PHILADELPHIA - Terence Wyatt, 58, of King of Prussia, PA, was sentenced yesterday to 10 years in prison for possession of child pornography.  Wyatt pleaded guilty on April 22, 2015, to possessing in excess of 600 images and videos from the Internet that depicted children being sexually abused by adults as well as videos that depicted sadistic and masochistic images of prepubescent children.

 

This investigation began as part of an ongoing undercover Internet investigation of child exploitation violations relating to the use of peer to peer (“P2P”) file sharing networks being conducted by the Abington Township Police Department.  The purpose of the investigation was to identify those individuals possessing and sharing child pornography using P2P networks.  An Abington Police Department detective located a computer on a P2P Network sharing files of interest in child pornographic investigations.  The user of this file-sharing program was Wyatt.  The detective was able to download images and movies from Wyatt’s files that depicted children under the age of 18 years old engaged in sexually explicit conduct including sexual abuse by adults.  Following execution of a search warrant, detectives arrested Wyatt on May 16, 2013. 

 

The images were then reviewed by a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) who verified that over 2005 images contained child pornography, approximately 95% of which were of prepubescent child pornography.  When HSI agents reviewed Wyatt’s electronic media they determined that it contained over 150,000 images, the majority of which were child erotica and child pornography.

 

In addition to the 10 year prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Gene E.K. Pratter ordered 10 years of supervised release, $1,000 restitution, and a $100 special assessment.

 

The case was investigated by the Detective Division of the Abington Township Police Department, the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, and Homeland Security Investigations.  It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jeffery W. Whitt.

 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.  Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division=s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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 to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Updated November 10, 2015

Topic
Project Safe Childhood