NEWS RELEASE
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
WESTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA
Julia C. Dudley United States Attorney Brian McGinn Public Affairs Specialist |
BB&T Building 310 1st Street, S.W., Room 906 Roanoke, Virginia 24011 (540) 857-2974 FAX (540) 857-2179 |
June 23, 2009
ROSE HILL MAN SENTENCED TO 235 MONTHS ON CHILD PORN CHARGES
Robert Franklin Doyle Jr. Received, Possessed and Distributed Images
United States Attorney Julia C. Dudley and Attorney General Bill Mims announced today that Robert Franklin Doyle, Jr., age 46, of Rose Hill, Virginia, was sentenced yesterday in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon to serve 235 months on charges he received, possessed and distributed images of child pornography.
Doyle was found guilty by a Federal Jury sitting in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Big Stone Gap on December 9, 2008. The jury determined that Doyle was guilty of one count of receiving child pornography, one count of possessing child pornography and three counts of distributing child pornography.
“Parents need to know that their children are protected when they log onto the internet, and while some of those protections do start at home, we as a law enforcement community have an obligation to do everything in our power to investigate and prosecute child pornographers,” United States Attorney Julia C. Dudley said today. “Thanks to the hard work of the men and women who investigated and prosecuted this crime, there is one less predator lurking on the internet today.”
“It is imperative that we work to bring to justice those who continue to exploit children through the possession and distribution of child pornography. Our office has worked closely with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Secret Service to resolve this case in a just manner. I commend the prosecutors and law enforcement officers who worked diligently to see this case through,” said Attorney General Bill Mims.
According to evidence presented at trial by Special Assistant United States Attorney Gene Fishel and Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Bockhorst, between August 2003 and January 2004, Doyle knowingly received, via e-mail, images he knew contained child pornography. During this time he also transmitted images he knew contained child pornography.
Evidence presented at yesterday’s sentencing hearing again established that Doyle had exhibited a pattern of abusing young boys from the Rose Hill, Virginia area. The court accepted evidence from two young men who testified they had been sexually abused by Doyle in 2003.
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 investigation of the case was conducted by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, the Virginia State Police, and the United States Secret Service. The case was prosecuted for the United States by Gene Fishel, Special Assistant United States Attorney and Senior Assistant Attorney General, and Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Bockhorst.