Baltimore Man Sentenced to Six Years in Prison for Distributing Child Pornography
Defendant Paid Criminal in the Phillipines to Sexually Abuse a Child

BALTIMORE—U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar sentenced Gregory C. Bukowski, age 22, of Baltimore, Maryland, today to six years in prison, followed by 35 years of supervised release, for distributing child pornography. Judge Bredar ordered that upon his release from prison, Bukowski must register as a sex offender in the place where he resides, where he is an employee, and where he is a student, under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Richard A. McFeely of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Special Agent in Charge William Winter of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations; and Chief James W. Johnson of the Baltimore County Police Department.

“The defendant paid cash to watch as a child was sexually abused at his command,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. “The child was abused in the Phillipines while the defendant directed the activity from his computer in Maryland.”

According to the plea agreement, on April 30, 2010, Bukowski was at his residence and using a computer that was logged on to the Internet and running a peer-to-peer file-sharing program. An undercover Baltimore County detective downloaded three files from Bukowski, which contained visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

The Baltimore County detective obtained a search warrant for the Bukowski’s residence, which was executed on May 18, 2010. Baltimore County Police Department personnel seized and subsequently forensically examined a computer, external hard drive, and other digital media. These items contained at least 600 images depicting prepubescent minors, under the age of 12, engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including sadistic or masochistic conduct, or other depictions of violence.

During the search, Bukowski was interviewed and admitted that he used a file-sharing program to download, trade, and view child pornography. Bukowski also stated that he frequented websites where he paid to watch children being sexually abused live on the internet. Through the website, Bukowski was able to direct adults in the Phillipines to perform sexually explicit acts on the children in real time by typing the request on his computer. Bukowski admitted that he sought out child pornography on the Internet and knowingly made the images available for others to download.

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 www.justice.gov/usao/md/Safe-Childhood/index.html.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the FBI, ICE Homeland Security Investigations, and Baltimore County Police Department for their work in the investigation.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Judson T. Mihok, who prosecuted the case.