Luzerne Man Indicted for Trafficking in Child Pornography
| U.S. Attorney’s Office January 13, 2009 |
Dennis C. Pfannenschmidt, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, announced today that a federal grand jury returned an indictment yesterday charging a Luzerne man with receiving and distributing child pornography.
Pfannenschmidt stated that Jeremy Steinruck, age 27, allegedly received and distributed child pornography via computer between November 2007 and November 25, 2009.
Pfannenschmidt noted that the indictment resulted from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Scranton Police, and detectives from the Lackawanna County District Attorney’s Office.
If convicted on the charge, Steinruck faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a potential maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The indictment also seeks the forfeiture to the United States of six computers and one thumb drive allegedly used by the defendant to receive, store, and distribute child pornography.
Pfannenschmidt noted that 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.
Pfannenschmidt noted that Assistant United States Attorney Francis P. Sempa is prosecuting the case.
An indictment and criminal information is not evidence of guilt but simply a description of the charge made by the United States Attorney against a defendant. A charged defendant is presumed innocent until a jury returns a unanimous finding that the United States has proved the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.