Schuylkill County Man Sentenced For Production Of Child Pornography

     The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Robert Lee Raeder, age 45, of Tamaqua, Schuylkill County, was sentenced today in federal court on a charge of production of child pornography.  United States District Court Senior Judge Richard P. Conaboy sentenced Raeder to 121 months of imprisonment and three years supervised release.  Raeder was also ordered to comply with the registration requirements of the Sexual Offender Registration Act (the Adam Walsh Act).

     Raeder was arrested on April 2, 2013 and charged with the production of child pornography.  He entered a guilty plea to the charge on May 7, 2013.  The criminal information sets the time period for the offenses as various times between January 2001 through December 2012.

     The case against Raeder stems from an investigation by the Pennsylvania State Police Computer Crimes Unit and United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).  Raeder produced videos and other images and then maintained them on his computer.  A forensic examination of Raeder’s computer revealed the images and videos.  The victims were identified.  Raeder is in custody and still faces pending state charges.

     United States Attorney Peter J. Smith noted that 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 Attorney’s 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.

     The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michelle Olshefski.