Pittsburgh Man Charged with Attempting to Meet Minor for Sex, Attempting to Produce Child Pornography, and Transporting Child Pornography

Martin C. Carlson, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, announced that a Pittsburgh resident is scheduled to appear in federal court in Wilkes-Barre today to face charges that he used the internet to attempt to entice a minor to have sex, attempted to produce child pornography, and transported child pornography by computer.

Carlson stated that George Carvlin, age 55, is charged with committing the offenses in May 2008. Carvlin was recently taken into custody by FBI agents in Pittsburgh. He is scheduled to be arraigned today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Malachy E. Mannion in Wilkes-Barre.

Carvlin was indicted by a federal grand jury on February 3, 2009, as a result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office, and Barrett Township Police.

Carlson stated that Carvlin faces a mandatory minimum 15-year prison sentence and a possible maximum sentence of 30 years in prison if he is convicted of attempting to produce child pornography; a mandatory minimum 10-year prison sentence and up to life in prison if he is convicted of using the internet to attempt to entice a minor for sex; and a mandatory minimum five-year prison sentence and a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison if he is convicted of transporting child pornography.

Carlson 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.

Carlson noted that Assistant United States Attorney Francis P. Sempa is prosecuting the case.