FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	Monday, July 9, 2012
Docket #: 1:11-cr-00236-AWI

FRESNO, Calif. – Clovis resident John Whitley Richards, 41, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Fresno to receiving child pornography, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

According to court documents, between August 2008 and January 2009, Richards received via the Internet between 300 and 600 images depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The images involved the portrayal of sadistic, masochistic, and other depictions of violence. Richards was taken into custody this morning and is scheduled to be sentenced on September 17, 2012 by Chief United States District Judge Anthony W. Ishii.

This case is the result of an investigation by the Central California Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Assistant United States Attorney Brian W. Enos is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”

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