Elkin Man Sentenced On Child Pornography Charges
Greensboro, N.C. – United States Attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina Ripley Rand announced today that Stephen Arthur Robinette, 71, of Elkin, was sentenced on June 7, 2012 in U.S. Federal Court in Greensboro. The Elkin Police Department, along with the NC State Bureau of Investigation’s ICAC task force began an investigation in December of 2010. In January 2011, Robinette was charged and arrested on four counts of Second Degree Exploitation of a minor. In March of 2011, Robinette pled guilty in federal court to production of child pornography. Robinette received an 18 year sentence followed by lifetime supervised release.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, 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 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
