The United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that a 41-year-old Bradford County resident was sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Court Judge Edwin M. Kosik to 144 months in prison for receiving and distributing child pornography.

     According to United States Attorney Peter J. Smith, Christopher J. Stephani, Columbia Crossroads, Pennsylvania, previously pleaded guilty to using a computer to download and distribute images of child pornography between 2008 and March 4, 2010.

     Stephani was indicted by a federal grand jury on July 20, 2010, as a result of an investigation by DHS Homeland Security Investigations, the Pennsylvania State Police Computer Crimes Unit Northeast Task Force, and the Lackawanna County District Attorny's Office.

     Judge Kosik also ordered that Stephani be placed on supervised release for life following his prison sentence. Stephani was also ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and a $100 special assessment.

     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.

     The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa.

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