United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner
Eastern District of California
Clovis Man Pleads Guilty To Receiving Child Pornography
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | CONTACT: Lauren Horwood |
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February 21, 2011 |
PHONE: (916) 554-2706 |
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www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae |
usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov |
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Docket #: 1:11-cr-00172-AWI |
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FRESNO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Aaron Gregory Guzman, 44, of Clovis, pleaded guilty today to receipt of a visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
According to the plea agreement, Guzman received more than 600 images and videos depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. The images and videos of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct also involved the portrayal of sadistic, masochistic, and other depictions of violence. Guzman received the child pornography on his computer, and many of the minors depicted were prepubescent minors.
Guzman is scheduled to be sentenced on April 30, 2012 by Chief United States District Judge Anthony W. Ishii. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and up to 20 years of in prison, a $250,000 fine, and a lifetime term of supervised release.
This case is the result of Operation Direct Connect, an extensive series of investigations by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, specifically the Fresno U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Jeremy R. Jehangiri is prosecuting the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please 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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