Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: October 13, 2009
Contact : Sue McKinney
CHILD PORNOGRAPHY SENTENCING
Franklin Eugene Gilmer was sentenced on October 8, 2009, to a term of 168 months in prison by the Honorable W. Louis Sands, Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. Gilmer, 71, of Leesburg, Georgia, pled guilty on July 15, 2009, to two counts of possession of child pornography. Gilmer’s sentence must be served in its entirety, as there is no parole in the Federal prison system.
Gilmer had entered into a plea agreement in which he admitted that he had knowingly downloaded child pornography from the internet onto his personal computers. The investigation began when law enforcement officers in Florida identified Gilmer’s computer as one from which images of child pornography could be accessed via a peer to peer file sharing network. Agents seized Gilmer’s personal computers on two separate occasions. Forensic analysis of Gilmer’s computer hard drives revealed over 5000 images of child pornography.
G.F. Peterman, III, Acting United States Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, stated that “the United States Attorney’s Office is dedicated to prosecuting all persons involved in the sexual exploitation of children to the fullest extent of the law.”
Assistant United States Attorney K. Alan Dasher prosecuted the case. The case was investigated by agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the United States Secret Service. Inquiries regarding the case should be directed to Ms. Sue McKinney, Public Affairs Specialist, United States Attorney’s Office at (478) 621-2602.
