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Press Release
Press Release
GREENSBORO, N.C. – A Durham man was sentenced today to 190 months in prison for distribution of child pornography, announced United States Attorney Ripley Rand.
Jack Steven Vanlaar, 56, of Durham, North Carolina, had pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of child pornography, an offense punishable by no less than 5 years and no more than 20 years imprisonment. He was sentenced by United States District Judge Catherine C. Eagles to 190 months imprisonment followed by 15 years supervised release. Judge Eagles also ordered Vanlaar to forfeit two computers used in the offense.
The offense was committed between November 23, 2012, and February 23, 2013, using the peer-to-peer file sharing network GigaTribe. Vanlaar was reported by a social networking site to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children after an image of suspected child pornography was posted on that website. That information led to an investigation by the United States Postal Inspection Service, who seized and analyzed Vanlaar’s computer equipment after obtaining a federal search warrant.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anand P. Ramaswamy and 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.