GRINNEL MAN SENTENCED ON CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CHARGES
DES MOINES, IA - On July 9, 2009, Charles Jacob Darnell, age 81, of Grinnell, Iowa, was sentenced to a term of 168 months imprisonment for receiving child pornography, announced United States Attorney Matthew G. Whitaker. Chief United States District Court Judge Robert W. Pratt also ordered Darnell to serve a ten year term of supervised release upon his release from prison and pay a $100.00 assessment to the Crime Victim Fund.
On February 23, 2008, Mattes pled guilty to the receipt of child pornography charge. The case arose out of a search warrant executed at Darnell’s residence. As a result of this search warrant, law enforcement officers found approximately 1900 images and videos of child pornography on Darnell’s computer.
This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa. This case was investigated by the Grinnell, Iowa Police Department.
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