Luzerne County Man Sentenced to More Than 17 Years in Prison for Receiving and Distributing Child Pornography

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that a 36-year-old Nanticoke resident who admitted to downloading and trading child pornography was sentenced to 210 months in prison today by Senior U.S. District Court Judge A. Richard Caputo.

According to United States Attorney Peter J. Smith, John Dudkiewicz previously admitted to committing the offense during October 2009.

Dudkiewicz was charged in an information filed by the United States Attorney’s Office in July 2010. Dudkiewicz’s charge resulted from an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Lackawanna County Detectives, and the Taney County, Missouri Sheriff’s Office.

In imposing the sentence, Judge Caputo noted the very serious nature of the offense and the fact that innocent children are abused and victimized because people consume and distribute child pornography. Consumers of child pornography, the judge noted, help perpetuate the market for such material. Judge Caputo also explained that he imposed the sentence in part to protect the public and deter others from committing similar crimes.

Judge Caputo also ordered that Dudkiewicz be placed on supervised release for life following his prison sentence, and pay a special assessment of $100.

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.