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August 29, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Weirton Resident Enters Guilty Plea
to Child Pornography Charge

WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA — A Weirton, West Virginia, resident entered a plea of guilty today (August 29, 2011) in United States District Court in Wheeling before Judge Frederick P. Stamp, Jr.

United States Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld, II, announced that SEAN M. PRICE entered a plea of guilty to a one-count Indictment charging him with accessing child pornography with the intent to view from November of 2010 to April 28, 2011, in Weirton.

PRICE, who is currently in custody pending sentencing, faces a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000.

The case was prosecuted by USA Ihlenfeld and Assistant United States Attorney Robert H. McWilliams, Jr. and was investigated by the West Virginia State Police.

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, 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.