United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner
Eastern District of California
Fresno Man Pleads Guilty to Receiving Child Pornography
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | Monday, June 18, 2012 |
FRESNO, Calif. — Brian Keith Murphy, 38, of Fresno, pleaded guilty today to one count of receiving and sharing images of child pornography, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. The guilty plea was entered before United States District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill.
According to court documents, Murphy received over the Internet more than 600 images and videos depicting minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. The images and videos portrayed sadistic, masochistic, and other violent conduct. Many of the minors depicted were prepubescent minors.
The sentencing hearing will be held at 9:45 a.m. on September 10, 2012. The maximum penalties for receipt of a visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct are 20 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 the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables and any applicable statutory sentencing factors. Murphy has been in custody since a federal grand jury indicted him for this offense.
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. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigation (HSI), the Kings County Sheriff’s Office, the Kings County District Attorney’s Office, and the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorneys Jeremy R. Jehangiri and Brian W. Enos 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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