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

FRESNO, Calif.—United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Eric Crosby, 37, of Tehachapi, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Anthony W. Ishii to 15 years in prison, to be followed by 15 years of supervised release, for producing child pornography.

According to court documents, Crosby persuaded a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct and videotaped and took still images of that conduct. On June 20, 2011, Crosby pleaded guilty and has been in federal custody since then.

"This sentence serves as a strong reminder that the sexual exploitation of children is a crime that will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," said Michael Toms, resident agent in charge for ICE Homeland Security Investigations in Bakersfield. "Those who prey on society's most vulnerable must be made to understand there are serious consequences for their crimes and the anonymity of cyberspace affords them no protection."

This case is the result of an extensive investigation by the San Joaquin Valley's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the and the Kern County Sheriff's Department. Assistant United States Attorney Brian W. Enos prosecuted 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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