Registered Sex Offender Sentenced For Receiving Child Pornography

ATLANTA – Charles Pelts, who was already a registered sex offender, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for receipt of child pornography.

“By trafficking in graphic images of pornography depicting very young children, Pelts contributed to the horrifying child exploitation trade,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.  “We remain steadfast in partnering with federal and local law enforcement officers to vigorously prosecute those engaged in the market for child pornography.”

“The defendant’s egregious disregard for the law and his perverse desire to witness the rape of children simply have no place in our society,” said Ryan L. Spradlin, acting special agent in charge of ICE Homeland Security Investigations in Atlanta. “The victims whose abuse is so starkly recorded in collections like this know exactly what sort of sick pleasure the defendant derived from seeing the worst moments of their lives. It’s enough to make anyone’s skin crawl.”

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charge, and other information presented in court:  In or about November 2013, special agents with the Department of Homeland Security Investigations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“HSI”), discovered that Pelts, a resident of Marietta, Ga., had used two e-mail accounts to transfer images of child pornography to others – including images depicting graphic sex acts involving very young children.  HSI special agents subsequently obtained warrants to search Pelts’ e-mail accounts and his cell phone.  A review of his e-mail accounts revealed that Pelts had received approximately 11,000 images of child pornography, including images of toddlers and infants.  His cell phone contained approximately 4,050 images of child pornography.  The agents also learned that Pelts had been registered as a sex offender since 2004.

Pelts, 35, of Marietta, Ga., was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison, to be followed by lifetime supervised release.  Pelts will also be required to register federally as a sex offender when he is released from prison.  He pleaded guilty on May 14, 2014.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Assistant United States Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan prosecuted the case.

This case is a part of Project Safe Childhood.  In February 2006, the Attorney General launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse.  Led by the United States Attorney’s Offices around the country, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao/gan/.