Former Columbia Man Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for Receiving Child Pornography

Baltimore, Maryland - U.S. District Judge William M. Nickerson sentenced Daniel Brian Archer, age 33, of Dover, Delaware, formerly of Columbia, Maryland, today to five years in prison, followed by 20 years or supervised release, for receipt of child pornography.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge William Winter of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Baltimore Field Office; Queen Anne’s County Sheriff R. Gery Hofman; and Queen Anne’s County State’s Attorney Lance G. Richardson.

According to Archer’s plea agreement, as part of an investigation into an organization operating a commercial child pornography website, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents obtained payment records indicating that Archer had accessed the child pornography website. A search warrant was obtained for Archer’s residence in Columbia, where he lived at that time. A hard drive was seized during that search warrant and was forensically examined. Investigation revealed that Archer used the hard drive to receive and possess child pornography, including a computer file which contained 33 images documenting the sexual abuse of prepubescent females. Archer admitted that he purchased and downloaded child pornography through website subscriptions and the government proved that he sexually touched three minor female relatives - two through their clothing and one while he was changing her diaper.

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. Details about Maryland’s program are available at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/md/Safe-Childhood/index.html.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Bonnie Greenberg, who prosecuted the case.