News and Press Releases

United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner
Eastern District of California

Oroville Registered Sex Offender Pleads Guilty to Receipt and Distribution of Child Pornography

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Lauren Horwood
 
March 25, 2011

PHONE: (916) 554-2706

 

www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae

usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov

 

Docket #: 2:11-CR-008 JAM

 

 

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that on March 22, 2011, Donald Wayne Johnson, 46, of Oroville, pleaded guilty to receipt and distribution of child pornography.

According to court documents, on November 11, 2010, a computer repairman fixing a printer belonging to Johnson contacted Butte County Sheriff's deputies after he found animated images of child pornography on the printer. During a search of the home law enforcement officers found two computers, and multiple thumb drives, memory cards, and CDs that contained more than 3,000 files (images and videos) of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. According to court documents, Johnson was a registered sex offender because of his conviction in 1991 in Sacramento County of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor under the age of fourteen.

Johnson is scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Judge John A. Mendez on June 7, 2011. He faces a sentence of no less than 15 years, and up to 40 years in prison, a lifetime term of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

This case is the product of an extensive investigation by the Sacramento Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, a federally and state-funded task force managed by the Sacramento Sheriff's Department. It includes agents from federal, state, and local agencies. The purpose of the Sacramento ICAC is to investigate online child exploitation crimes, including child pornography, enticement, and sex trafficking. Assistant United States Attorney Kyle Reardon is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC mobilizes federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov or call the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California and ask to speak with the PSC coordinator.

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