Press Release
PORT SAINT LUCIE MAN CHARGED WITH TRANSPORTATION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
April 24, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Anthony V. Mangione, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Office of Investigations, announced today that defendant Jason David Bingham, 23, was charged in a criminal complaint with transporting child pornography, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252(a)(2). The defendant appeared in federal court today for his initial appearance, and was detained without bond pending a bond hearing next week. His arraignment is scheduled for April 28, 2009.
According to the criminal complaint filed in court, the investigation commenced on February 15, 2009, when officers from the German Federal Police (Bundeskriminalamt or BKA) downloaded approximately 37 image files. Of the 37 files, 24 were images depicting minor child engaged in sexually explicit conduct. One of these images is of a child who appears to be well under the age of eight. The BKA, with assistance of ICE Cyber Crimes Center (IC3), learned that Bingham's computer utilized an Internet Protocol address that was assigned to a residence located in Port St. Lucie, FL.
As further alleged in the criminal complaint, on April 23, 2009, ICE with the assistance of Detectives from the Port St. Lucie Police Department and Martin County Sheriff's Office, executed a federal search warrant at the defendant's home in Port St Lucie. As a result of the execution of the search warrant, computers, hard drives and media were seized during the search. Bingham admitted he downloaded and traded child pornography with others via the Internet and that he had images of children, as young as infants, engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
During a forensic preview of a backup hard drive, which Bingham admitted to encrypting, agents observed Bingham's child pornography collection, consisting of numerous images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The total count of files on the drive was 577,943.
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 United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Mr. Acosta thanked ICE's Office of Investigations in Fort Pierce and ICE Cyber Crimes Center (IC3) for their work on this investigation. Mr. Acosta also thanked Germany's Bundeskriminalamt for their assistance in this matter. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Carmen M. Lineberger.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
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