California Man Convicted in Child Pornography Case

WASHINGTON—David Grummer, 45, of San Diego, was convicted Thursday by a federal jury on 18 counts of receipt of child pornography and five counts of possession of child pornography, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Laura E. Duffy for the Southern District of California.

The case originated from a joint investigation by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the FBI into the illegal sale of chlordane and DDT on the Internet. According to court documents and three days of trial testimony, Grummer, who was employed at a hazardous waste recycling facility, was selling banned chemicals on the Internet. Following an EPA/FBI search warrant of his residence in Oceanside, Calif., forensic examiners discovered child pornography on one of the computer hard drives seized. According to evidence at trial and court documents, the FBI Cyber Squad then conducted an investigation that led to a second search warrant of the residence and the discovery of hundreds of images of child pornography on five separate hard drives. Further forensic analysis revealed Grummer utilized file share programs to search for and download images depicting the sexual exploitation of children.

Grummer faces a mandatory minimum penalty of five years in prison and up to a maximum term of 20 years in prison for each of the charges of receipt of child pornography and a maximum term of 10 years in prison for each of the possession of child pornography charges. For each charge, Grummer also faces a maximum fine of $250,000, and a mandatory minimum of five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release. Grummer has been detained since his Dec. 5, 2008, arrest. His sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 17, 2010, before U.S. District Court Judge Dana M. Sabraw.

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 U.S. 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.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alessandra P. Serano and Matthew J. Gardner for the Southern District of California and Trial Attorney LisaMarie Freitas of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS). The case was investigated by the EPA and the FBI, with the assistance from the Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory (RCFL). Additional computer forensic support was provided by CEOS’ High Technology Investigative Unit.