GREENEVILLE, TN—Benjamin Dwayne Swiger, 28, of Gray, Tennessee, was sentenced to serve 20 years in prison by the Honorable J. Ronnie Greer, U.S. District Judge. Upon his release from prison, Swiger will serve a life term of supervised release with special conditions. Swiger pleaded guilty in January 2014 to a federal indictment charging him with distributing child pornography.

The indictment and subsequent conviction of Swiger was the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Washington County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Helen Smith represented the United States.

William C. Killian, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee said, “This case represents the continuing commitment of the U.S. Attorney’s Office to prosecute those who distribute images of children being sexually exploited.”

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.