St. Petersburg Man Arrested on Charges of Possession and Distribution of Child Pornography
| U.S. Attorney’s Office July 26, 2013 |
TAMPA—Acting United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces the arrest of Donald E. Gallagher, Jr. (51, St. Petersburg), on charges of distribution and possession of child pornography. If convicted, Gallagher faces a mandatory minimum penalty of five years and a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison on the distribution charge and a maximum of 10 years in federal prison on the possession charge.
According to the complaint, Gallagher used an online peer-to-peer file sharing program to download and share numerous images and videos of minors, some pre-pubescent, engaging in explicit sexual activity. Based upon the investigation into the origin of these images, the Federal Bureau of Investigation obtained and executed a federal search warrant at a residence in St. Petersburg. During the search on July 24, 2013, agents located and seized a laptop computer belonging to Gallagher. A preliminary examination of the computer revealed hundreds of images of child pornography.
An complaint is merely a charge that probable cause exists that a defendant has committed a violation of the federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the St. Petersburg Police Department, and the Largo Police Department. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Josephine W. Thomas.
It is another case brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.