FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Lauren Horwood
December 1, 2011	PHONE: (916) 554-2706
www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae	usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov
Docket #: 2:11-CR-0326 KJM

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Sean Howard, 35, of Sacramento, pleaded guilty today to possessing child pornography.

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

According to court documents, in 2006, Howard used an Internet file-sharing network to download images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Howard deleted these images after they were discovered by his ex-wife.

In February 2011, law enforcement agents with the Sacramento Valley Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force identified a computer at Howard's address offering files of child pornography through the Gnutella file-sharing network. On February 8, 2011, agents download 10 files of child pornography.

A federal agents executed a search warrant on March 28, 2011 and seized two computers and an external hard drive from Howard's residence. A computer forensic examination found approximately 46 images and five videos of child pornography on his desktop computer that had been downloaded between January 26, 2011 and March 22, 2011.

The images were first saved on Howard's computer, but in an attempt to delete them, he had moved them to the recycle folder. Howard claimed the sexually explicit activity that they showed involving minors was too graphic for him. Among the images on Howard's computer were files showing sadistic and masochistic conduct.

Howard is scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller on March 5, 2012. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, 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 factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

This prosecution is part of the Department of Justice's ongoing Project Safe Childhood initiative which was launched to increase federal prosecutions of sexual predators of children, and to reduce the number of Internet crimes against children including child pornography trafficking. As a part of PSC, the United States Attorney's Office has teamed with state and local agencies and organizations to increase law enforcement presence on the Internet, and to educate the public about safe Internet use, thereby reducing the risk that children might fall prey to online sexual predators. For additional information on the PSC initiative, please go to www.projectsafechildhood.gov or call the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California and ask to speak with the PSC coordinator.

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