Citizen Of The Czech Republic Is Sentenced To More Than 12 Years In Prison For Transporting, Receiving And Possessing Child Pornography While Visiting The United States

CHARLOTTE, N.C. B  Ales Svak, 43, and a citizen of the Czech Republic, was sentenced today to 151 months in prison for transportation, receipt and possession of child pornography he accessed while visiting the United States, announced Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.  Chief U.S. District Judge Frank D. Whitney presided over today’s hearing, and ordered Svak also to serve a lifetime of supervised release and to register as a sex offender.  Svak will also be subject to deportation proceedings upon completion of his federal sentence.

John A. Strong, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division joins U.S. Attorney Rose in making today’s announcement.

According to court documents and to information introduced at the sentencing hearing, Svak arrived in the United States in August 2014 on a 90-day visa, and was scheduled to return to the Czech Republic in November 2014.  Court documents indicate that while visiting in the United States, Svak accessed child pornography online, and shared child pornography with an undercover FBI agent at least four times using a peer-2-peer network.  During a subsequent search of Svak’s residence in Charlotte, law enforcement seized multiple electronic devices, including a laptop computer and two external hard drives.  Forensic analyses of those devices revealed that Svak possessed 1,014 videos and 1,102 images of child pornography, some of which depicted prepubescent minors engaging in sadistic and masochistic or other violent conduct.  Svak also admitted to engaging in a sexual act with a 15-year-old female on two occasions during a prior visit to the United States in 2003.

Svak pleaded guilty in March 2016 to one count of transportation, one count of receipt and one count of possession of child pornography.  He is currently in custody and will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.  All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole. 

U.S. Attorney Rose thanked the FBI for their investigation of this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cortney Randall of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte was in charge of the prosecution.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice, aimed at combating the growing online sexual exploitation of children.By combining resources, federal, state and local agencies are better able to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue those victims.For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov