Ventura County Man Indicted by Federal Grand Jury for Allegedly Producing Child Pornography Involving 6-Year-Old Girl

          LOS ANGELES – A Simi Valley man was indicted today by a federal grand jury on charges of producing child pornography in a case involving a 6-year-old girl.

          Eric Allen Haensgen, 38, who until August 2015 lived in Huntley, Illinois, is also charged with distributing and possessing child pornography.

          The indictment alleges that Haensgen produced still photos and videos of the young victim. Investigators found 83 images and three videos of a 6-year-old girl that had been shot with Haensgen’s iPhone and downloaded to a computer, according to court documents.

          Haensgen allegedly distributed over the BitTorrent Network other examples of child pornography he obtained from the internet.

          Haensgen was arrested on March 24 by special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) after federal prosecutors filed a criminal complaint that accused him of one count of producing child pornography.

          Haensgen is scheduled to be arraigned on the indictment on April 13 in United States District Court. Haensgen remains in custody without bond.

          An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

          The charge of producing child pornography carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years. The charge of distributing child pornography carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and a maximum sentence of 20 years. The charge of possessing child pornography carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.

          This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Vanessa Baehr-Jones of the Violent and Organized Crime Section.