The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that a 49-year-old Scranton resident was sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Court Judge James M. Munley to 180 months in prison for receiving and distributing child pornography, and an additional 12 months for violating the terms and conditions of federal supervised release.

According to United States Attorney Peter J. Smith, William Szalku admitted to downloading and storing images of child pornography to a cellular telephone while serving a term of supervised release, after having previously been convicted in federal court for failure to register as a sexual offender.

Szalku waived indictment and was charged with receiving and distributing child pornography by the United States Attorney in February 2012, as a result of an investigation by the United States Probation Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Marshals Service, and the Lackawanna County District Attorney’s Office.

Judge Munley also ordered Szalku to serve a 10-year term of supervised release following his prison sentence, and to pay a special assessment of $100. Szalku must also comply with sex offender registration requirements following his release from prison.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a U.S. Department of Justice nationwide initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. 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 Todd K. Hinkley.

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