manteo, north carolina, man sentenced for receiving child pornography
RALEIGH - United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that in federal court today Chief United States District Judge James C. Dever III, sentenced RAYMOND KEITH FITCHETT, 44, to 108 months imprisonment followed by a life-term of supervised release. A Federal Grand Jury returned a Criminal Indictment on November 21, 2011. On January 25, 2012, FITCHETT pled guilty to receipt of child pornography, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252(a)(2).
According to the Indictment, on September 29, 2010, FITCHETT received, via the Internet, a visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The investigation revealed that in March, 2011, information was received that FITCHETT was involved in downloading child pornography from an Internet child pornography network that was the target of a nationwide Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) investigation entitled Operation Gondola. On June 22, 2011, a search warrant was obtained and executed on FITCHETT’s residence. Agents seized a desktop computer and three DVD’s. Computer forensic analysis of the items revealed 2,953 pictures and 165 videos of child pornography had been downloaded and saved. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about PSC, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/resources.html and click on the tab “resources.”
Investigation of this case was conducted by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Homeland Security Investigations, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the Dare County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Ethan Ontjes is prosecuting the case.
