Press Release
HIGHLANDS COUNTY MAN CHARGED WITH POSSESSION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
June 8, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jeffrey H. Sloman, Acting 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, and Susan Benton, Sheriff, Highlands County Sheriff's Office, announced that defendant Timothy Ryan Schock, 25, of Sebring, FL, was indicted on child pornography charges following an investigation by ICE.
Defendant Schock was arrested by complaint on May 21, 2009, and has his initial appearance on May 22, 2009. He was subsequently indicted and was arraigned in federal court in Fort Pierce before U.S. Magistrate Judge Frank Lynch on Friday, June 5, on charges of receipt and possession of child pornography. He was detained without bond. If convicted, Shock faces up to 30 years imprisonment, including a mandatory minimum sentence of five years.
According to the indictment, the investigation began in April 2009 when ICE special agents in Fort Pierce were conducting an Internet investigation utilizing peer-to-peer software and obtained three video clips depicting what appeared to be minor children engaged in sexually explicit conduct that were later identified as being downloaded from Schock's personal computer.
According to the indictment and the affidavit filed with the court in support of the complaint, on May 21, 2009, ICE special agents with the assistance of detectives from the Highlands County Sheriff's Office, executed a federal search warrant at the defendant's home and seized his computer, hard drives and media. During a preliminary forensic analysis of Schock's computer, the agents observed numerous video clips of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
This investigation and arrest was part of a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ICE initiative known as Operation Predator. Operation Predator protects children from sexual predators, including those who travel across continents to have sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders and child traffickers. Since the initiative was launched in July 2003, there have been more than 11,900 individuals arrested nationwide.
Mr. Sloman commended the investigative efforts of ICE's Office of Investigations in Fort Pierce and the Highlands County Sheriff's Office in this matter. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Millien.
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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