FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Lauren Horwood
September 29, 2011	PHONE: (916) 554-2706
www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae	usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov

            FRESNO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Shawn Joseph McCormack, 28, of Black Forest, Colo., was indicted today by a federal grand jury for the sexual exploitation of a minor. McCormack is currently in the custody of the United States Marshal and is set to appear before the United States Magistrate Judge Sheila K. Oberto Friday, September 30, 2011 at 1:30 p.m.

            According to the indictment, on March 28, 2009, McCormack produced sexually explicit images and videos involving a minor out of Kern County.

            This case is the result of an extensive investigation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) offices in Bakersfield, Colorado Springs, and Boston, the Bakersfield Police Department, and the Colorado Springs Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Jeremy R. Jehangiri is prosecuting the case.
           
            “For most people, criminal acts against children are impossible to comprehend, but for the children who have been sexually exploited, these crimes are all too real,” said Michael Toms, resident agent in charge of ICE HSI in Bakersfield. “The physical and emotional scars are difficult, if not impossible, to outgrow. This indictment demonstrates the successful, collaborative efforts of HSI, the Bakersfield Police Department, and our law enforcement partners in seeing to it that child molesters and online predators get the justice they deserve.”

            If convicted, McCormack faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum of 30 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, and a lifetime term of supervised release. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory sentencing factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

            The charges in the indictment are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

            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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