FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Lauren Horwood
March 16, 2012	PHONE: (916) 554-2706
www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae	usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov
Docket #: 2:10-CR–121 GEB

            SACRAMENTO, Calif. – United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Kenneth Albert Webb, 39, of Woodland, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. to six years and three months in prison, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release for possession of child pornography.

            According to court documents, Webb’s laptop was found to contain 50 video files and 21 pictures depicting the sexual exploitation of minors, some of whom were younger than 12 years of age. Some of the images were produced in Germany and in France.

            In sentencing, Judge Burrell emphasized that his sentence was meant to deter others who would create, distribute, receive, and possess child pornography. “General deterrence is crucial,” he said. “Young children were raped in order to enable the production of the pornography that the defendant both downloaded and uploaded. The greater the customer demand for child pornography, the more that will be produced. … The logic of deterrence suggests that the lighter the punishment for downloading and uploading child pornography, the greater the customer demand for it and so the more will be produced.”

            This case is the product of an investigation by the Yolo County Sheriff’s Department and the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Kyle Reardon prosecuted the case.

            Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig was pleased with the work that his forensic investigator Pete Martin did on this case in partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office. “Lieutenant Martin runs our highly productive Computer Forensics Unit, which is funded through a federal DOJ grant,” said Reisig. “It would be a huge loss to the County if we were unable to keep the Unit operating after the federal funds are exhausted.”

            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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