Pittsburgh Man Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison for Possessing and Distributing Child Pornography

PITTSBURGH, PA - A resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to five years’ imprisonment, followed by 10 years’ supervised release, on his conviction of distribution and possession of material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.

United States District Judge Nora Barry Fischer imposed the sentence on Adam D. Cadle, 37. In addition to the imposed terms of imprisonment and supervised release, the court ordered that Cadle pay $1,000 in restitution to each of two minor victims.

According to the information presented to the court at the time of the guilty plea, Cadle had been using a group chat service, known as "Chatstep," to distribute and receive images and videos depicting the sexual exploitation of minors, some of whom were under the age of 12 years. On November 1, 2017, Cadle’s residence was searched by officers of the Pittsburgh Crimes Against Children Task Force, during which numerous images of child pornography were identified on his laptop computer and a SanDisk thumb drive. Forensic analysis undertaken after the search revealed that Cadle was chatting with minors and sharing sexually exploitive material. It was established that on November 17, 2015, Cadle distributed 10 images of child pornography during one such chat session.

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

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office, and the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Cadle.

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.