Tennessee Woman Charged in Child Pornography Case

         ROCHESTER, N.Y.-- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Tekilla Frisbie, 32, of Tennessee, was charged by criminal complaint with production, receipt and distribution of child pornography. The charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison, a maximum of 30 years, a $500,000 fine or both.

            Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany H. Lee, who is handling the case, stated that in July 2013, the FBI Office in Elmira, N.Y. was informed that a man from Maryland exchanged images of child pornography with a woman in the Western District of New York between May and August 2011. The investigation traced the images to a cell phone used by the defendant during that time. According to the complaint, the phone belonged to a friend of Frisbie's who told law enforcement officers that the defendant had lived with her and looked after her children.

            The defendant was interviewed by FBI Special Agents in Tennessee and admitted that while living in the Western District of New York, she produced images of her friend's child then used her friend's cell phone to exchange the images with the man in Maryland.

            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 Attorneys’ 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 criminal complaint was the culmination of an investigation on the part of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of  Special Agent in Charge Brian P. Boetig.

            The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.