Georgia Man Sentenced to 160 Months in Prison for Producing Child Pornography

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, announced that a 53-year-old Georgia resident who admitted to commanding and persuading a 13-year-old minor to produce and send him pornographic images was sentenced to serve more than 13 years in federal prison today by Senior U.S. District Court Judge Edwin M. Kosik.

According to United States Attorney Peter J. Smith, Scott Swanson, of Hiawassee, Georgia, was sentenced to 160 months in prison. Swanson pleaded guilty to producing child pornography as an aider and abettor in May 2010. Swanson committed the offense during November 2008.

Swanson was indicted by a federal grand jury on July 23, 2009. Swanson’s charges resulted from an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Scranton Police, and the Wyoming County District Attorney’s Office.

Judge Kosik also ordered Swanson to pay a $5,000 fine and a special assessment of $100. Swanson was also ordered to serve 20 years of supervised release following his prison sentence.

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