Le Center Man Pleads Guilty To Receiving Child Pornography

MINNEAPOLIS—Earlier today in federal court, a 47-year-old Le Center man pleaded guilty to receiving several videos containing child pornography. Harold Duane Davenport pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography. Davenport, who was indicted on November 5, 2012, entered his plea before United States District Court Judge David S. Doty.

In his plea agreement, Davenport admitted that from September 16, 2009, through February 6, 2010, he knowingly received visual depictions over the Internet that involved minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. In addition, Davenport admitted that he possessed more than 600 images of child pornography, including images and videos portraying sadistic or masochistic conduct or other depictions of violence.

For his crime, Davenport faces a potential maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, with a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison. Judge Doty will determine his sentence at a future hearing, yet to be scheduled.

This case is the result of an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the LeSueur County Sheriff’s Office, and the Minneapolis Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan P. Petterson.

Receipt of child pornography is against the law. In addition to prosecuting these cases, the Justice Department is presently funding a study focused on the correlation between involvement in child pornography and hands-on sexual abuse of children. A 2008 study (The Butner Study) published in the Journal of Family Violence found that up to 80 percent of federal inmates incarcerated for possession, receipt, or distribution of child pornography also admitted to hands-on sexual abuse of children, ranging from touching to rape.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), 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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and identify and rescue victims. For more information about PSC, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/ For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/resources.html and click on the tab “resources.”