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Press Release

Cheswick Man Sentenced to Prison for Possessing Child Pornography

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

PITTSBURGH - A former resident of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 57 months imprisonment, followed by five years supervised release, on a charge of possession of material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor, Acting United States Attorney Soo C. Song announced today.

Senior United States District Judge Donetta W. Ambrose imposed the sentenced yesterday on Michael Allen Sanders, age 56, of Cheswick, Pennsylvania.

According to information presented to the court, on June 25, 2015, Sanders knowingly possessed and knowingly accessed with intent to view images in computer graphic files, the production of which involved the use of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct, some of whom had not yet attained 12 years of age.

Assistant United States Attorney Jessica Lieber Smolar prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

Acting U.S. Attorney Soo C. Song commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office for conducting the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Sanders.

This case was brought as 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.

Updated December 5, 2017

Topic
Project Safe Childhood