Cumberland County Man Guilty Of Receiving Child Pornography

HARRISBURG - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today that John Alexander Driscoll, age 60, of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, pled guilty on December 13, 2016, before Chief United States Magistrate Judge Martin C. Carlson to receiving child pornography.

According to United States Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, Driscoll admitted to receiving images depicting the sexual exploitation of children.  After obtaining a search warrant, federal law enforcement officers located thousands of images and movies containing child pornography in Driscoll’s possession.

This case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daryl Bloom. 

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 the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood 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 Project Safe Childhood, please visit  www.usdoj.gov/psc For more information about internet safety education, please visit  www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."

A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

Driscoll was a 1987 subject of a United States Postal Inspection Service child exploitation operation where he was arrested and convicted of mailing and receiving child pornography.  As such, the maximum penalty under federal law for this offense is 40 years’ imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a $250,000 fine.  In addition, this offense carries a mandatory term of imprisonment of 15 years.

Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant's educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.

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