Petoskey Man Gets 11 Years For Child Pornography

          GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN -Timothy Gerard Reader, 66, of Petoskey, Michigan, was sentenced to serve 11 years in the Federal Bureau of Prisons for possessing child pornography and for violating the terms of his supervised release. U.S. District Judge Gordon J. Quist also ordered that Reader spend the rest of his life on supervised release.

          In 2006, Reader was sentenced in federal court to serve 10 years in prison and 9 years of supervised release for possessing child pornography. After completing his custodial sentence, Reader began his supervised release. As part of the terms and conditions of his supervised release, Reader was not permitted to have a cell phone with internet access. During a visit to Reader’s home in 2019, a probation officer discovered that Reader had two cell phones with internet access and 32 memory cards. When confronted, Reader admitted to possessing more child pornography. Homeland Security Investigations and the Michigan State Police opened a new investigation and discovered that the cell phones and memory card contained more than 2 million sexually suggestive images of children. Within that collection were hundreds of images of child pornography. At sentencing, Judge Quist, ordered Reader to serve another 10 years in prison for possessing more child pornography and one additional year for violating his supervise release.

          “Protecting the homeland includes developing and implementing unique investigative methods to identify child predators,” said Vance Callender, Special Agent in Charge of HSI in Michigan and Ohio. “After already serving a decade for similar crimes, Mr. Reader was again identified committing depraved acts. HSI invests significant resources and manpower to protect children.”

          This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, county prosecutor's offices, the Internet Crimes Against Children task force (ICAC), federal, state, tribal, and local law enforcement are working closely together to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children. The partners in Project Safe Childhood work to educate local communities about the dangers of online child exploitation, and to teach children how to protect themselves. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit the following web site:www.projectsafechildhood.gov. Individuals with information or concerns about possible child exploitation should contact local law enforcement officials.

          This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Mekaru and investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Michigan State Police, and the United States Probation Office.

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