FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Lauren Horwood
May 10, 2011	PHONE: (916) 554-2706
www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae	usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov
Docket #: 2:11-CR-007 JAM

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Bruce Clinton Johnson, 86, of Oroville, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to possess child pornography.

This case is the product of an extensive investigation by the Sacramento Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney Kyle Reardon is prosecuting the case.

According to court documents, on November 11, 2010, a computer repairmen fixing a printer belonging to Johnson's son contacted Butte County Sheriff's deputies after he found animated images of child pornography on the printer. At the same time, IP addresses linked to a residence that Johnson shared with his son, Donald Wayne Johnson, were identified offering images and videos of child pornography through a file-sharing network between April 11, 2007 and November 8, 2010. Bruce Johnson and Donald Johnson were convicted in 1991 in Sacramento County of sexually molesting minors.

A federal search warrant was executed on November 23, 2010, and law enforcement agents found several computers, multiple thumb drives, memory cards, and CDs in Johnson's home that contained over 3,000 files (images and videos) of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Bruce and Donald Johnson conspired to download and possess this material, storing it on their computers, and burning CDs that contained their favorite images.

Bruce Johnson is scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Judge John A. Mendez on August 9, 2011, at 9:30 a.m. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison, a three-year 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.

Donald Wayne Johnson pleaded guilty before Judge Mendez on March 24, 2011 to receipt and distribution of child pornography. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 21, 2011. Due to his previous conviction, the maximum statutory penalty that he faces is no less than 15 years, and up to 40 years in prison, a lifetime term of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.

The Sacramento ICAC is a federally and state funded task force managed by the Sacramento Sheriff's Department comprised of 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.

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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