Wilmington Collector of Child Pornography Sentenced to 151 Months’ Imprisonment

RALEIGH—United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced that in federal court today Lonne Balog, 43, was sentenced by Chief Federal District Court Judge James C. Dever to 151 months’ imprisonment and 20 years of supervised release for receipt of child pornography.

During the course of an investigation of online trafficking in child pornography, law enforcement identified Balog as an individual using peer-to-peer technologies to obtain child pornography and to make such materials available to others. After an undercover investigator downloaded child pornography images from Balog’s computer, a search warrant was executed at his Wilmington home in June of 2012 by the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, and the FBI. Balog admitted to frequent downloading of child pornography, and forensic examiners determined that Balog had accumulated over 4,000 still images and over 600 videos depicting the sexual abuse of children.

United States Attorney Thomas Walker stated, “This case is a good example that prosecutors and investigators at every level successfully work together to make the Eastern District of North Carolina a safer place for our children.”

This case was part of the Project Safe Childhood initiative, a national program aimed at ensuring that criminals exploiting children are effectively prosecuted by making full use of all available law enforcement resources at every level. For more information about this important national project, Project Safe Childhood, go to www.justice.gov/psc.

Investigation of this case was conducted by the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, and the FBI. Prosecution was coordinated with the New Hanover County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Jay Exum prosecuted the case for the United States.