Mercer County Man Sentenced For Possessing Videos Showing Sexual Exploitation Of Girls

PITTSBURGH -A Mercer County resident has been sentenced in federal court to one day in the custody of the United States Marshal’s Service, followed by 12 years supervised release, the first 14 months of which is to be served in home confinement, with electronic monitoring, on his conviction of possession of material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.

United States District Judge Mark R. Hornak imposed the sentence on Joseph L. Bryer, 53, of Grove City, Pa.

According to information presented to the court, Bryer possessed in excess of 10 videos in computer graphics files, which depicted prepubescent minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. The videos were downloaded and shared using peer-to-peer software installed on Bryer’s computer. The videos included those depicting prepubescent females engaging in sexual intercourse with adult males.

Prior to imposing sentence, Judge Hornak granted the defendant’s request to depart from the Sentencing Guidelines applicable to the case, that is 63-78 months imprisonment, due to the defendant’s very low I.Q.

Assistant United States Attorney Carolyn J. Bloch prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

U.S. Attorney Hickton commended Homeland Security Investigations - Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the United States Secret Service for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Bryer.

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.