Palm Beach County Resident Arrested for Production of Child Pornography

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Michael B. Steinbach, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, announced yesterday that Gary Goldberg, 49, of Palm Beach County, was charged with production of child pornography in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2251. A pre-trial detention hearing is scheduled for Goldberg today at 10:00 a.m.

The complaint charges Goldberg with production of child pornography, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 2251. If convicted, Goldberg faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of up to 30 years.

According to the complaint, Goldberg entered into a relationship with a 17-year-old girl and her 15-year-old friend. Goldberg allegedly performed oral sex on the 15-year-old girl in the bathroom at the BP station at Glades Road while the 17-year-old waited in the car outside. Goldberg paid the minors to allow him to take nude and sexually explicit photographs of them. Goldberg allegedly photographed the girls with a tablet.

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.justice.gov/psc.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI, Boca Raton Police Department, the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, and the South Florida Minor Vice Task Force. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lothrop Morris.

An indictment is only an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.