West Pittston Man Sentenced to 135 Months in Prison for Receiving Child Pornography

PHILADELPHIA—Dennis C. Pfannenschmidt, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, announced that a 50-year-old West Pittston resident was sentenced today to serve more than 11 years in federal prison for trafficking in child pornography. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Court Judge James M. Munley.

Pfannenschmidt stated that John Patterson was sentenced to 135 months in prison, to be followed by a lifetime of supervision by the U.S. Probation Office. Patterson previously admitted to receiving sexually explicit images and videos of minors on his computer during 2008.

Patterson was indicted by a federal grand jury on February 3, 2009. Patterson’s charges resulted from an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Pennsylvania State Police, the Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office, West Pittston Police, and the Delaware County Internet Crimes Unit. Patterson resided in West Pittston at the time of the offense.

Patterson was also ordered to pay a $100 special assessment.

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 the case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa.