Richmond Man Imprisoned 20 Years for Possessing Child Pornography

INDIANAPOLIS—Joseph H. Hogsett, United States Attorney, announced today that Charles Musselman, 63, Richmond, Indiana, was sentenced to 235 months in prison today by U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker following his guilty plea to possessing child pornography. This case was the result of a six-month investigation by the Richmond Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation (Indianapolis and Oklahoma City).

Musselman was arrested in December 2009, after law enforcement in two states downloaded images from his peer-to-peer software he ran on his computer. In December 2009, during service of a search warrant at his residence in Richmond, Indiana, Musselman was found to be in possession of several hundred compact disks, photo albums, and a computer which all contained approximately 100,000 images of nude children, some engaging in sex acts with adults.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Gayle L. Helart, who prosecuted the case for the government, Judge Barker also imposed lifetime supervised release following Musselman’s release from prison. During the period of supervised release, Musselman must not have contact with any minors and will be subject to search and seizure.

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.