Greenbelt Man Admits to Soliciting Production of “Custom Made” Video of Sexual Abuse of Preteen Girls
Received 4,069 Images Documenting Sexual Abuse of Infants and Children up to 14 Years Old

GREENBELT, MD—Jonathan Clark, age 30, of Greenbelt, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to receiving child pornography, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.

According to his plea agreement, Clark responded to a U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s undercover on-line operation in March of 2007, requesting a custom made movie of children having sex. Clark sent two e-mails detailing how two “girls,” ages 8 and 11, were to be sexually assaulted for his movie. Clark also ordered a pre-made movie in which a 7-year-old girl was raped. Clark mailed his payment. While awaiting his requested videos, Clark sent another e-mail asking for websites to view for pictures until he received his movies.

On July 6, 2007, law enforcement agents delivered two DVDs containing child pornography to Clark’s parents’ residence, as requested by Clark. Agents searched, with court authorization, the parents’ home as well as Clark’s. Agents seized 4,069 images and videos found on Clark’s work computer documenting the sexual abuse of children, whose ages range from infants to 14 years old. Clark’s collection included sadomasochistic images that involved, among other things, the bondage of children and the sexual penetration of infants.

Clark faces a minimum sentence of five years and a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, followed by supervised release up to life. U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus scheduled sentencing for September 25, 2009.

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. Details about Maryland’s program are available at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/md/Safe-Childhood/index.html.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Immigration, Customs and Enforcement for their investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stacy Dawson Belf and Bryan E. Foreman, who are prosecuting the case.