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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Thursday, November 2, 2006

CHILD PORNOGRAPHER SENTENCED TO NINE YEARS

RALEIGH - United States Attorney George E. B. Holding announced that DUANE SCOTT SMITH, 32, of Leland, North Carolina, was sentenced on October 19, 2006, by U. S. Senior District Court Judge James C. Fox to 108 months’ imprisonment for transmission of child pornography and transportation of obscene materials over the Internet. SMITH was also required by the court to remain on supervised release for the remainder of his life after his release from prison. Smith was detected by law enforcement after tips to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) led investigators to an email address transferring images of child pornography over the Internet. Investigators were able to trace the emails back to SMITH, and a search warrant executed at his residence, where child pornography was discovered on his personal computer. The recovered images depicted the sexual abuse of very young children, including infants, and included images of children in the known victims database maintained by NCMEC . The FBI, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, and the New York State Police all participated in the investigation.

“This sentence is another illustration of how seriously crimes against children are taken in our district,” said U. S. Attorney Holding. “Child pornography is a growing problem that presents grave risks to children everywhere. Every image of child pornography is nothing less than the image of a crime scene, and these images are traded by pedophiles who encourage one another to indulge their perverse desires. Trading images of suffering children as if they are baseball cards is not only sickening, it’s dangerous. Fortunately, Congress has armed us with laws that will enable us to fight back with the strength necessary to treat these as the grave crimes they are. SMITH will not only serve a lengthy jail term, but he will also remain under supervision for the rest of his life.”

This case is part of the Project Safe Childhood initiative, a national program announced by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales earlier this year, aimed at ensuring that criminals exploiting children are effectively prosecuted by making full use of all available law enforcement resources at every level. More information about Project Safe Childhood can be found at www.projectsafechildhood.gov. Assistant United States Attorney Jay Exum handled the case for the government.

News releases are available on the U. S. Attorney’s web page at www.usdoj.gov/usao/nce within 48 hours of release.