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Press Release

Blair County Man Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Violating Federal Child Exploitation and Firearms Laws

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Pennsylvania

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – A resident of Altoona, Pa., has been sentenced in federal court to 168 months in prison and a lifetime term of supervised release on his conviction of violating a federal child pornography law, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced today.

Senior United States District Judge Kim R. Gibson imposed the sentence on Jamie Lee Richardson, 53, of Altoona, Pa.

According to information presented to the court, on or about October 30, 2014, Richardson did knowingly distribute a visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct in individual computer graphic files which were produced using prepubescent minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. All computer graphic files were shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.

Assistant United States Attorney Maureen Sheehan-Balchon prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

This case was brought as a part of Project Safe Childhood, 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 United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Mr. Olshan commended the Department of Homeland Security Investigations for theinvestigation that led to the successful prosecution of Richardson.

Updated October 10, 2023

Topic
Project Safe Childhood