Placer County Man Indicted on Child Pornography Charges

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—Acting United States Attorney Lawrence G. Brown announced today that a federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment charging BRIAN RAYMOND WOODIN, 41, of Lincoln, Calf., with producing, transporting, and possessing child pornography.

This case is the product of an extensive investigation by the Savannah, Ga., and Sacramento offices of the FBI, and was undertaken as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC). PSC is 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.

According to Assistant United States Attorney Laurel D. White, who is prosecuting the case, it is alleged that in June of last year, WOODIN transported images of a girl, approximately 10 years old, engaged in sexual conduct with an adult white male. Investigation revealed that the person who sent the images used an e-mail address that belonged to WOODIN. Search warrants were obtained for WOODIN’s Lincoln residence and his place of employment. In addition to the computers and electronic equipment seized, agents found and seized clothing that appeared to match the clothing worn by the 10-year-old girl in the images of child pornography sent to Georgia. Additionally, furniture depicted in the pornographic images sent to Georgia was identical to that found in WOODIN’S home. The minor depicted in the pornographic images sent to Georgia has been identified.

The maximum statutory penalty for producing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct is 30 years in prison. The charge also carries a mandatory 15 years in prison. Transporting child pornography carries a five-year mandatory minimum sentence to a possible 20-year prison sentence, and possessing child pornography carries a possible 10 years in prison. All three charges additionally carry a possible $250,000 fine, a $100 special assessment, and possible life term of supervised release. The actual sentence, however, will be dictated by the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of factors, and will be imposed at the discretion of the court.

The charges are only allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.