FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	Monday, March 5, 2012
Docket #: 2:11-CR-0326 KJM

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Sean Howard, 35, of Sacramento, was sentenced by United States District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller to two and a half years in prison, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. Howard pleaded guilty on December 1, 2011 to possession of child pornography.

According to court documents, in February 2011, law enforcement agents with the Sacramento Valley Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force downloaded 10 files of child pornography from Howard ’s computer. A federal search warrant was executed on March 28, 2011. On Howard’s computer were 46 images and five videos of child pornography that had been downloaded between January 26, 2011 and March 22, 2011. The images and videos downloaded and possessed by Howard showed minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Information uncovered during the investigation showed that Howard had been downloading and viewing child pornography since at least 2006.

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 County Sheriff’s Department with agents from federal, state, and local agencies. The Sacramento ICAC is investigates online child exploitation crimes, including child pornography, enticement, and sex trafficking. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle Reardon prosecuted 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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