FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Lauren Horwood
April 11, 2012	PHONE: (916) 554-2706
www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae	usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov
Docket #: 2:11-0531 KJM

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Matthew Mark Battersby, 44, of Folsom, pleaded guilty today to receipt of child pornography.

According to court documents, in September 2011, law enforcement identified a computer at Battersby’s address offering files of child pornography through an Internet file-sharing service. Law enforcement agents searched Battersby’s residence. On Battersby’s computer were approximately 15 image files and 179 video files of child pornography.

Battersby is scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller on June 26, 2012. He faces a statutory penalty of five to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and a lifetime period 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 case is the product of an extensive investigation by the Sacramento Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, a federally and state funded task force managed by the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department with agents from federal, state, and local agencies. The ICAC investigates online child exploitation crimes, including child pornography, enticement, and sex trafficking. Assistant United States Attorney Kyle Reardon 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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