Man Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child Pornography

BUFFALO, NY—Kenneth Dorland Lamb, II, 42, of Jamestown, NY, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Chief Judge Richard J. Arcara, to a felony charge of possession of child pornography, Acting U.S. Attorney Kathleen M. Mehltretter of the Western District of New York, announced today. Possession of child pornography carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment, a fine of $250,000 or both.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Marie P. Grisanti, who handled the case, stated that the defendant possessed on his computer approximately 10 images and 20 videos depicting actual children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Some of the children shown in the images were prepubescent and less than 12 years of age. These images had been transmitted to Lamb in interstate and foreign commerce via the internet.

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.

The plea was the culmination of a joint investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Laurie Bennett and the Jamestown City Police Department under the direction of Chief Rexford Rater.

Sentencing is scheduled for September 9, 2009, at 12:30 p.m. EST, in Buffalo, N.Y., in front of U.S. District Chief Judge Richard J. Arcara.