Florence Man Sentenced on Child Pornography Charge

COLUMBIA, SC—United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated today that Dennis Anthony Lypen, age 21, of Florence, South Carolina, was sentenced today in federal court in Florence, South Carolina, for possession of child pornography, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(5)(B). United States District Judge R. Bryan Harwell of Florence sentenced Lypen to eight years’ imprisonment, three years’ supervised release, and ordered him to receive sex offender treatment.

Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that the FBI Buffalo Division, Innocent Images Initiative and Task Force identified an individual using a computer in Florence, South Carolina, that possessed, transmitted, and distributed child pornography. Further investigation revealed the individual’s address to be Lypen’s address. A search warrant was executed at the Lypen residence on June 26, 2009. Computers and media were seized and placed into evidence. During the forensic review, thousands of images of child pornography, including photographs and video files, were located on the imaged hard drive of the laptop computer that had been seized from the bedroom of Dennis Lypen. The images sent to the UCA were also located on the hard drive. During the interview of Dennis Lypen conducted during the execution of the search warrant, Lypen admitted that he had used Limewire to download images of child pornography and they were still on his computer in the Limewire folder.

The case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney William E. Day, II of the Florence office handled the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.