Producer Of Child Pornography Sentenced To 15 Years In Federal Prison

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Patrick John Stone, 29, of Gloucester, Virginia was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger to serve 180 months in federal prison on child pornography production charges, announced Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.  Stone was also placed on a lifetime of supervised release and was ordered to register as a sex offender.

Joining U.S. Attorney Rose in making today’s announcement is B.W. Collier, Acting Director of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.

According to filed court documents and today’s sentencing hearing, Stone maintained an Internet account which he used to communicate in chatrooms and via video conferencing.  Stone admitted in filed court documents that while he resided in Cleveland County, N.C., he met the minor female via a chat website.   Stone also admitted to telling the minor victim he was 17 years old.  According to court records, between September 9, 2012, and November 1, 2012, Stone caused the minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct which Stone recorded without the minor’s knowledge.  A forensic examination of Stone’s seized computers revealed that he possessed numerous images of child erotica and child pornography videos.

Stone pleaded guilty in February 2015 to one count of production of child pornography and is currently in federal custody.  He will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.  All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.  

The investigation was handled by the SBI.  The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville.

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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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.