COLUMBIA, SC—United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated today that Kenneth D. Griffin, Jr., age 34, of Spartanburg, pled guilty today in federal court in Greenville, to possession of child pornography, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2255A. Senior United States District Judge Henry M. Herlong, Jr. of Greenville accepted the plea and will impose sentence after he has reviewed the presentence report which will be prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.

Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that the FBI was provided information that an e-mail account in Spartanburg County was sending e-mails containing images of child pornography. The FBI performed an investigation and traced the e-mail account and physical address connected to the messages to Griffin’s home. The FBI obtained a search warrant for this address and executed it on April 10, 2013. A computer was seized. A forensic exam of the computer revealed hundreds of images of child pornography. After the seizure Defendant met with the FBI and admitted that he had been seeking child pornography using chat rooms on Yahoo.

Mr. Nettles stated the maximum penalty Griffin can receive is a fine of $250,000 and/or imprisonment for 20 years, plus a special assessment of $100.

The case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Bill Watkins of the Greenville 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 Attorney’s 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.