Plymouth Man Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child Pornography

Earlier today a 26-year-old Plymouth man appeared in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis to plead guilty to one count of possession of child pornography. Michael Dean Tingelstad was indicted in December 2009.

In entering his plea, Tingelstad admitted that on September 28, 2006, he knowingly possessed computer images and video files of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. For that crime, Tingelstad faces a potential maximum penalty of tens years in prison. All sentences will be imposed by a federal district court judge, at a sentencing hearing not yet scheduled. This case is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Tricia A. Tingle.

The case is part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a national initiative to combat the growing epidemic of sexually exploiting children, particularly via the Internet. PSC was launched by the U.S. Department of Justice in May of 2006. Led by the Department’s Criminal Division, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, along with U.S. Attorney’s nationwide, PSC encourages federal, state, and local law enforcement partnerships and provides resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who abuse children while identifying and rescuing victims of that crime. In 2008, PSC was credited with 2,289 child-pornography indictments being filed in federal court nationwide, a 33-percent increase over 2006. For more information about PSC, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.