Hollywood Man Indicted on Child Pornography Charges

R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office, announced that defendant Kenneth Hasselbach, a retired Catholic priest, now residing in Hollywood, FL, was indicted today on charges of possession of child pornography, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252(a)(4)(B). If convicted, Hasselbach faces up to 10 years’ imprisonment.

As part of an internet child pornography investigation, FBI agents discovered that an internet user in Florida had received child pornography by email. Further investigation revealed that the subscriber to the email account that received the child pornography was defendant Kenneth Hasselbach.

According to the affidavit filed in support of the initial criminal complaint, Hasselbach admitted that he possessed child pornography on his two computers and that he obtained the images through internet downloads and by email. Hasselbach also admitted that he chatted on-line with 14 and 15-year-old boys about their first sexual experiences. A preliminary forensic examination of Hasselbach’s computers revealed that they contained images of young boys under the age of 18 either posing nude or engaging in sexual activity.

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 Pro ject Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Mr. Acosta thanked the FBI and all other law enforcement agencies involved in Project Safe Childhood for their work on this case. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marlene Rodriguez.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls.  Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.